Angels in the Underworld
by kp1185
Summary: While investigating a multiple homicide, the angels suddenly find themselves trapped in the criminal underworld of the L.A. drug dealing scene. First season episode style.
1. Prologue

The young man lay cowering on the ground, trembling with fear and listening to the labored breathing of his companions. Blood and sweat dripped into his eyes, stringing them and forcing him to shut them tightly. He didn't dare raise a hand to wipe them. They had been taken by surprise. It had been impossible to see coming. He still didn't understand it, but it did no him no good by focusing on what had already happened.

He lay facedown on the floor with his hands laced over his head as he had been instructed to do by the gun wielding assailants that had ambushed him and his companions minutes earlier. They hadn't been prepared and had been so easily overtaken. He locked eyes with his younger brother Vince, who was lying near him. He gave him a weak smile, promising him with his eyes that everything would be alright.

Of course, he himself wasn't stupid enough to believe that.

"Hey, guys, look you don't want to do this." he heard one of his companions call out. It was Frank. Good old Frank, always trying to help. He held his breath and waited for their captors reaction.

It came in the form of the deafening retort of a shotgun.

The young man stifled a cry of horror and heard others around him do the same. Frank's son, Johnny, let out a strangled wail of agony. The boy was lying right next to his father. He felt sick all of a sudden, his heart was beating too quickly to stay in his chest, it would certainly explode. The breathing around him became shaky and ragged. He chanced a glance at Vince. Vince's eyes were closed and he was whispering something noiselessly to himself. Probably a prayer.

And probably too late.

"Anyone else have something to say?" came the cold reply of one of their captors.

No one else did.

They waited in torturous silence for half an hour or more, their captors pacing between their prone bodies. He couldn't see Frank, but the pool of blood that was slowly seeping towards him couldn't be missed. Though terrified, his mind began to work quickly. There were three, maybe four men with guns holding them hostage. With Frank gone, there were three of his friends plus him left to defend themselves. It could be done, but they would have to act together. He waited until the large shoes of one of the men passed his face before opening his eyes and trying to catch his brother's attention.

Vince's eyes were still closed and he was still muttering fiercely to himself. He waited a few more minutes and then turned in frustration to his other side.

His best friend Theo locked eyes with him. Theo nodded his head in understanding and knowing he had his best friend's cooperation, he turned back to Vince. After a few tense seconds, Vince opened his eyes and noticed his brother staring at him. There was no way he could get Johnny's attention. Frank's dead body lay between Vince and the dead man's son. The boy's muffled sobs indicated he wouldn't be remotely useful anyway.

"On my count." he mouthed to his brother. Vince's eyes widened and he nodded his head slightly. Theo would be ready the moment he saw him move, of that he was sure. He could always count on Theo.

"One." he mouthed silently. He saw Vince's body tense as he got ready to react.

"Two." His heart was beating even faster. There was a possibility that they would all be killed, but anything was better than lying here and being executed like cattle.

Before he could open his mouth for the next word, the door opened. He sighed loudly in frustration and anxiousness. The sharp clacking footsteps of expensive shoes entered the room and stopped behind him, just out of his line of vision. He looked towards Theo again. Theo's face was chalk white and his lips were set in a grim line. His best friend obviously knew the man who had just walked in. He fought the urge to sit up and get a look at him. Doing so would be resigning himself to Frank's fate.

"Why'd you kill the old man?" the newcomer's voice asked in a bored tone.

"He wouldn't shut up." came the simple reply.

"Oh well."

"What do you want us to do with the rest of them?"

There was a moment of silence as the newcomer, who seemed to be charge, contemplated his answer.

"Kill them. Kill them all."

The words fell flat in the empty room. The young man's breath caught in his throat as he heard the clicking sound of a gun being cocked. Time was up, they'd have to act now, he realized with horror. He looked up frantically at his brother.

Before he could open his mouth to yell a signal to act, the back of Vince's head simply exploded in a fine red mist as a shotgun shell tore through the back of his skull. He was given no time to react before another shot rang out and the world went black.

The young man opened his eyes. This in itself shocked him. He was supposed to be dead. It was completely dark inside the room he was in. He listened for a clue of someone else inside the house and heard nothing. He was alone. His heart sank as he remembered his brother. Vince was dead, he saw him die. Was everyone else dead? He lifted his head and tried to look around but intense pain radiating from his head and left shoulder stopped him. Groaning in pain, he lay back down and waited for the wave of nausea brought on by his injuries and sudden movement to subside. Once able to move again, he slowly and painfully rose to his feet. Another nauseating wave of dizziness overcame him and he sank to his knees. Burying his throbbing head in his hands, he felt a sticky wetness all over the side of his face. He felt around his scalp and discovered a long trench-like wound on the side of his head. The bullet must have grazed his head and then passed right into his shoulder. He gingerly touched the bullet hole in his shoulder and hissed in pain. They had thought he was dead and had left him. For some reason, he didn't feel lucky. His shirt was soaked in blood. If he didn't get to a hospital soon, he would surely bleed to death. There were people lying on the floor around him, but he couldn't make out their condition in the darkness. The light was all the way by the door.

Carefully, he limped to the door. He stumbled into the wall and again sank to his knees, overcome by yet another wave of dizziness. He gave himself a few moments to rest and then forced himself to his feet again. Using the wall for balance, he blindly groped his way along looking for the light with his right hand. He brushed against it within a few moments. He flicked it on and immediately shut his eyes tightly, the sudden brightness making pain burst behind his eyes and his head spin violently. The dizziness overcoming him, he turned and vomited on the floor, somehow managing to stay on his feet. He let out a shaky breath and looked at his feet, giving his eyes a chance to adjust to the light.

He wasn't sure that he wanted to see what there was in store for him when he turned his head. He stalled for several minutes, breathing hard and steadying himself. Finally, he turned and took in the horrific view before him.

They were all dead. Vince lay where he had fallen when he had been shot. Frank and Johnny both lay in the same position he had last seen them alive in. There was blood everywhere. He searched for Theo. When he didn't see him, a ray of hope beamed across his face. Had Theo escaped? He glanced around the room to make sure of his best friend's absence.

His hope was soon shattered.

Theo lay on the floor a few feet behind him. He had somehow managed not to step on him on his way to the door.

Overcome with despair, he let himself sink to his knees again and screamed in agony. Whoever had done this wouldn't get away with it. He would see to that. For now, he would be strong. He would get to a hospital and he would survive.

And then, he would make them all pay.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The three angels were spending a relaxing Saturday afternoon in the comfort of Jill's beach house. They had spent most of the day outside in the water, enjoying the beautiful sunny mid-April weather. After wearing themselves out, the girls had decided to make a nice dinner from scratch from an exotic cookbook that Sabrina brought. Though all three girls were excellent cooks, the recipe was difficult and God only knew what the results would be.

Jill Munroe tied back her wavy ash blonde hair, as she read from the cookbook. Her hair was getting in the way and making things more difficult than they needed to be. This was the second attempt at the recipe and although she was a very slender girl, she had a voracious appetite. This meal couldn't be on the table soon enough.

"Add one half cup of flour and whisk briskly." she read aloud to Kelly Garrett. Kelly reached into the cupboard and pulled out a bag of flour.

"Half a cup?" she asked Jill. Jill nodded her confirmation.

Kelly measured out half a cup of flour into the saucepan on the stove. Kelly had been having the same problem with her hair as Jill had. She absently reached up to tuck a loose bit of hair behind her ears, unknowingly streaking white flour into her dark wavy hair. When her hair came bouncing back into her face again, she let out a frustrated sigh and grabbed one of Jill's ball caps from the living room and pulled it over her head, leaving a white handprint on the side. Jill noticed but decided it would be funnier if she kept that information to herself.

"Ok, now whisk." she ordered her friend.

Kelly followed her instructions. Putting down the book, Jill leaned over to see what she was doing.

"I don't think your whisking briskly enough, Kell." she observed with a frown.

Kelly stopped whisking and gazed at her friend.

"This is as briskly as I can whisk, Jill." she said defensively.

"I dunno, I think you can do better."

"You're a slave driver."

"Start whisking."

The two girls chuckled while Kelly obediently followed directions. Her task complete, she looked to Jill.

"What now, Julia Child?"

"Ok, now it says…add meat. Hold on, there's a side note." Jill said, scanning the book.

"A side note?" Kelly asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically. "It's a cookbook, not English literature."

"Just be patient." Jill chided. She found the sentence explaining the side note on the bottom of the page. "Ok, here it is, it's a cooking suggestion." She paused dramatically.

"Cook meat."

Kelly stared at her.

"Whoa, whoa! Cook meat? " she repeated, feigning disbelief at the obvious cooking suggestion. "I don't know about this anymore, Jill. You never said it would be this complicated." She set down her spoon and crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head sadly. "This is all just a tangled web of confusion and betrayal. I don't know what to think anymore."

Jill glared at her for a moment, but failed to keep her face stern. She giggled, in spite of herself. Kelly was in rare form today.

"You are impossible to work with. Sabrina needs to hurry up in the shower." she said, pushing Kelly lightly.

Kelly laughed. "She might be in there forever after all that salad dressing you spilled in her hair."

Jill winced.

"Yeah, I feel bad about that. But in my defense, she shouldn't have been on the floor."

"Jill, she was picking up the spoon that you dropped."

Jill chose to ignore that statement.

"Now, it says to add onions and garlic, stirring often."

Kelly laughed and shook her head. "Oh no, it's my turn to supervise, you do it. You've criticized my whisking one too many times. My heart can't take much more."

Jill grinned and switched places with Kelly. Sabrina Duncan rushed in at that moment, her tall, slim body wrapped in a white towel. Her straight dark hair was stringy and wet and still had traces of soap around her ears. Something had obviously interrupted her shower.

"Are you two deaf, the phone is ringing!" she yelled.

Jill and Kelly exchanged glances. Why hadn't they heard it? They followed Sabrina to Jill's room. The phone was indeed ringing. Jill waved her hand towards her phone and Sabrina answered it.

"Hello?" she said. She tilted her head to trap the phone between her cheek and shoulder as she adjusted her towel. The phone slipped off of her wet skin. After fumbling with it for a moment, she caught it and jerked it back to her ear to hear who was on the other end. Jill and Kelly snickered at her, offering no assistance.

"Good afternoon, Angel. I see you are visiting Jill. Is Kelly there as well?" the cultured voice replied. The girl's companionship had saved Charlie Townsend from making two additional calls once more.

"Yeah, Charlie, we're all here." Sabrina answered. At the mention of Charlie's name, Kelly and Jill hurried forward and leaned their heads against Sabrina's, wanting to hear what was going on.

"Excellent. Angels, we have a case on our hands, and a tough one from the looks of it. Drop whatever you're doing and come to the office. Bosley and I will brief you there."

"Will do, Charlie." Sabrina said, hanging up the phone. The phone had soap suds on it from the soap in her hair. Sabrina quickly wiped it off and then looked towards her friends.

"He said to drop everything and get to the office." she explained.

Jill frowned. "Well, I guess we have to drop our gourmet dinner then."

"Hopefully, not on my head this time." Sabrina joked.

"Oh well, I had a feeling it was going to turn out badly, anyway." Kelly added with a rueful smile.  
She went over to Jill's bed and picked up her purse. "Well, I've dropped everything, I'm ready."

"Hold on a minute! I need to get dressed here, I'm in a towel!" Sabrina cried, grabbing her clothes.

Kelly and Jill laughed.

"Yes. Please don't drop that." Kelly said with a grin.

The girls pulled up at Townsend Investigations twenty minutes later, anxiously awaiting their upcoming assignment. They had gone nearly two long weeks without a call from Charlie and they were getting bored and restless. Laughing and joking with each other, they bustled up the steps and into the office.

They immediately sobered upon stepping inside.

There was a heavy somber mood in the normally cheerful office and all three girls picked up on it instantly upon entering. A well dressed young man in his late twenties sat on one of the overstuffed sofas. He had a haunted look on his face and his eyes were red and bloodshot. A closer look revealed that his clothes, though expensive, were wrinkled and unwashed and he had a few day's growth of stubble on his face. He didn't acknowledge the angels as they walked in.

"Ah, right on time." John Bosley announced as the girls walked into the office. He looked grateful to have their company.

Ashamed of their inappropriately boisterous behavior, the three girls nodded at Bosley and quietly took a seat on the couch opposite from their client.

"Mr. Moretti, these are my associates that I was just telling you about. This is Sabrina Duncan, Jill Munroe, and Kelly Garrett."

The girls murmured a quick greeting as their names were called in turn. The man nodded his head absently without looking at them.

Sabrina cleared her throat and took the lead.

"What can we do for you, Mr. Moretti." she asked in her most professional business-like tone.

The man turned his head and stared listlessly at her.

"I want some bad people put away, Ms. Munroe."

Sabrina nodded her head slowly.

"That's something we can do. And it's Duncan." she corrected.

Moretti looked puzzled.

"Excuse me?"

"She's Munroe, I'm Duncan." Sabrina explained again, smiling awkwardly and jerking her thumb towards Jill. Damn, she should have just let it go.

Moretti appeared annoyed at her correction, but grunted in compliance.

Much to Sabrina's relief, the phone rang.

Bosley answered it in the middle of the first ring.

"Towsend Investigations." he called pleasantly into the phone. "Yes sir, everyone is here."

He leaned over and clicked on the squawk box.

"Hello, angels. Mr. Moretti." Charlie's cultured voice sounded out from the speaker.

"Hello, Charlie." the girls chorused in unison. Their voices were uncharacteristically joyless, giving even Charlie the opportunity to pick up on the tension in the office.

"Thank you all for coming so quickly. Ladies, this gentleman is Anthony Moretti. Mr. Moretti survived an attack that left his brother and several friends of his dead. He believes they was targeted by members of an Italian drug cartel based here in Los Angeles. He's hired us to find out who organized the hit."

"How are you connected with the mob, Mr. Moretti." Jill asked.

"I'm not anymore. I used to work for them when I was a kid. It's been years, though. I don't think they were after me."

Jill frowned. He was talking down to her. His face and body language told her that he was unimpressed by them so far. She looked to her right at Kelly, who raised an eyebrow slightly. She had been thinking the same thing.

"Do you have an idea who they might be after?" Sabrina asked.

Moretti sighed loudly and rubbed his face in irritation.

"I can't do this. Really, Mr. Townsend? These are your associates? Three girls? What are these kids going to do for me?"

The girls turned and looked at each other in indignation. This wasn't the first time they'd been underestimated and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

"Mr. Moretti, I assure you we are all qualified to handle this." Kelly replied evenly.

Moretti scoffed.

"Are you? How old are you, sweetheart? Nineteen? Twenty?"

Sabrina gently nudged Kelly with her knee to silence her. Kelly obligingly kept her mouth shut.

Jill didn't.

"Twenty three actually, Mr. Moretti. Well, at least I am." she spoke up brightly. She cupped her hand around her mouth as if revealing a big secret. "They won't be twenty three until a few more months." she whispered loudly, gesturing towards her friends. "Not that it matters. We don't play with dolls around here, our age has nothing to do with our qualifications or ability to do our jobs. If you need proof, you need only ask our former clients."

"We have yet to disappoint." Kelly added with a smirk.

"Don't let appearances fool you, Mr. Moretti. It's the so called secret to our success. Rest assured, Mr. Townsend chooses only the best to work for him." Bosley reassured him proudly, with a smile at the angels. He and Charlie had purposely waited and let the girls have the first shot at the man after his degrading comment.

"Yes, Mr. Moretti. A little faith goes a long way. Please trust that we will take care of this." Charlie said firmly.

Moretti didn't look convinced but slumped back in his chair, defeated for the moment.

"Fine. What do you need to know?"

"Anything you can tell us." Sabrina replied.

He locked eyes with her and then looked away. "I used to help out now and then for a few quick bucks back when I was a kid. I was a drug mule. I sold drugs for them at my school, at the mall, and in my neighborhood. Places where adults would look out of place. I stopped about ten years ago and haven't heard from them since. Like I said, I doubt it was me they were after, but I'm not aware of any ties to the mob with the people I was with." he said.

"And who were the people you were with?" Kelly asked him.

Bosley and the girls were surprised to see him tear up. He shuddered and crammed his knuckles towards his mouth.

"My brother, my best friend, my neighbor and his son." he choked out finally.

The girls glanced at each other awkwardly, feeling like intruders into this strange man's pain. When she felt like she had given him enough time, Kelly went on.

"Mr. Moretti, but can you give us their names? I know how difficult this is for you." she asked gently.

Moretti glared daggers at her.

"Oh, do you? You don't know anything of what I'm going through." he shot at her.

Sabrina nudged her again but Kelly ignored her this time.

"Once again, Mr. Moretti, you presume to know everything about me just by looking at me. We are going to help you, sir, but we need information. The names, please." she said shortly. Her pity could only be stretched so far.

Sabrina, Jill, and Bosley held their breath while Moretti and Kelly stared at each other.

Finally, Moretti spoke.

"Forgive me. I've not had an easy past few weeks." he apologized, his demeanor softening. "My brother's name is- was-" he corrected himself. "Vincent Moretti. My best friend was Teodoro Contadino. My neighor, Franklin Conrad and his son John Conrad."

Bosley jotted the names down in his notes. If any of them had a criminal past, Charlie would find out about it.

"And none of these men had any connections to the mob that you're aware of, Mr. Moretti?" Charlie asked.

"Not that I'm aware of."

Sabrina nodded.

"Did you get a look at the men who attacked you?"

Moretti shook his head.

"No, they had on masks. They made us lie face down on the floor, I didn't see anything."

"Was there anything unique about them? An accent, a dialect, anything distinct about them at all?" she pressed.

He shook his head again.

"No, Ms. Duncan. They were all so average. Average height, average build. It could be anyone."

Sabrina sighed to herself in exasperation. This wasn't going to be easy.

"There's nothing at all you can tell us?" Jill asked hopefully.

Moretti paused and thought for a moment.

"Someone else came in the room right before they started shooting. I didn't see him at all, but Theo did. He acted like he knew him. But as far as I know, Theo wasn't into anything shady. He was a good guy."

The girls wisely didn't comment.

"Well, that's a start." Bosley said, making a note in his pad.

"Did you bring the information I asked of your brother and your friends, Mr. Moretti?" Charlie asked.

Moretti nodded and reached into his jacket to produce a manila envelope. He handed it to Jill.

"He has it, Charlie." Jill called out for her employer's benefit. Sometimes they tended to forget that Charlie couldn't see anything inside the room.

"Excellent. We will return your photos as soon as we finish the case." Charlie reassured his client.

Moretti's focus wasn't on his photos.

"I want these guys found. And I want them to pay for what they did." Moretti said vehemently, his voice eerily soft.

Bosley and the angels shared a look.

"We aren't in the revenge business, Mr. Moretti. Charlie must have explained that to you." Bosley said uneasily. "We'll find who's responsible and put them in jail."

"Of course, Mr. Bosley. I want to see that happen more than anyone. That's why I'm here." Moretti said after a beat.

"The girls will get started right away, then." Charlie said quickly.

Moretti nodded and rose to his feet.

"I won't be in town for awhile. Whoever did this is bound to know that there were four bodies found and not five. I can't endanger my wife and child. You can reach me at this number. I want to be updated on your every move, day or night." he said, handing Bosley a card.

"We'll see that you're informed, sir." Bosley said, rising from his seat as well.

"Goodbye Mr. Moretti, and we will keep in touch." Charlie's voice called after him.

Bosley stepped over to him and the two men shook hands. Moretti turned to leave. He nodded towards the three girls and left the room. As soon as the girls heard his footsteps fade away, they all let out collective sigh of relief. The atmosphere of the room instantly brightened and all three relaxed, unaware that they had been so tense.

"Charming fellow." Sabrina quipped dryly.

Kelly and Jill nodded their agreement.

"I suppose he does have a right to be hostile." Bosley said thoughtfully, flipping the card Moretti had given him between his fingers.

"Yes, he's been through quite an ordeal." Charlie agreed.

"I don't trust him." Kelly blurted out suddenly.

Her companions stared at her.

"Oh?" Charlie said. "Why not, angel.?"

"I think he's going to do something stupid and he's using us as bloodhounds to track down whoever he's looking for." she explained.

Sabrina raised her eyebrows thoughtfully

"You got a point there, he didn't go to the cops first, did he Boz?"

Bosley shook his head. "The families of the other victims notified the police already. So far they have no leads and until they do, he wants to lie low."

"That was his reasoning. He also said his family is unaware of his past. That's the way he wants to keep it. However, he wasn't quite so-" Charlie fished for a word. "Agitated, when I spoke to him this morning. He was so distraught I had to cancel our preliminary meeting and just have him meet you here with his information. He's very unstable. Be careful with this one, angels."

"We're trying to bring down the mob and you ask us to be careful of our client?" Jill wailed. "Charlie, we just can't win, can we?"

Charlie chuckled.

"I doubt he poses a threat to you personally, angels. Just make sure he doesn't get in your way. Luckily, he's going to be in San Diego, staying with family. He's asked me to have you call him with any information you find out, the moment that you have anything new. Be careful of that too, angels. Kelly, if your hunch is right, we don't want to lead him to our prize."

Sabrina grinned.

"So, we'll be contacting him over the phone then at all hours of the day and will only hear his voice? Gee, Charlie, however will we manage that."

"It is pretty silly, Charlie, when you stop the think about it. Such high expectations." Kelly joined in, grinning.

"It'd be much easier if he was here in person." Jill added in a bubbly, inviting voice.

Charlie laughed. "Now, now angels. I suppose great minds think alike."

"So, how will we be handling this, Charlie." Kelly asked.

"Well, angels, the first step would be to trace all four victims and try to find the link to any criminal activity or debt or anything that could get them mixed up with mobsters. Moretti should have brought photos of them all with addresses and phone numbers and a list of friends and relatives to get in contact with. That should give us a start. Once we find the link, we can infiltrate and take them out from the inside. I have a feeling it will be impossible to tie anyone to the murders unless we can get a confession out of them. We'll need someone to go undercover. It will probably be you, Kelly."

Kelly gave her friends a pained look. "I'll never stop paying for my past crimes, will I, Charlie?"

"You more than already have, angel. You're just the most logical choice. For now, though, split up the names amongst yourselves and see if we can come up with a connection somewhere. Let me know how it goes. In the meantime, I'll look through the names he provided and see if I can find anything. Now, if you all will excuse me, I have a pressing engagement to attend to."

Jill grinned.

"And who will you be pressing against, Charlie?"

"Oh Jill, the way your mind works." Charlie chided gently. A girlish giggle could be heard in the background on his line.

"Have fun, Charlie." Sabrina called out.

"Will do, Sabrina. Good luck and be very careful. Goodbye angels, Bosley."

They chorused their farewell and Charlie hung up the phone. Bosley clicked the speaker off and leaned back in his chair.

"Well, we certainly have our work cut out for us."

The girls nodded their agreement.

"By the way, thanks for being five minutes late. I truly enjoyed my time alone with Mr. Moretti. " he said sarcastically."

"Hey, at least he didn't call you a kid." Kelly pointed out.

Bosley smiled at her. He knew how much the girls hated that.

"I suppose I shouldn't complain then. That was a brilliant defense by the way, Jill."

"I have my moments." Jill answered back with a grin. She patted her own back.

Sabrina looked at her watch.

"It's almost six. We have time for a few stops. I think we should all go together, we don't know what were getting into here. Two of us will go in and the third will stay in the car as backup in case something happens."

"I like your sense of optimism, Bri." Kelly joked.

Sabrina gave her a rueful smile. "And I like being as alive as possible. Plus, we all came in Jill's car and it'll take too long to drive back to her place to pick up our cars."

Jill agreed and sorted through the photographs and papers she pulled out of the manilla envelope.

"I say we give Theo's widow a visit first." she said, pulling out a picture of a handsome dark haired man.

"Sounds like a plan. We'll call and check in after every stop, Boz." Kelly agreed, rising from her seat on the sofa. Sabrina and Jill rose with her.

"Be very careful, girls." Bosley warned as they headed towards the door.

"Oh, Boz, don't worry, we're always careful." Sabrina said over her shoulder as she walked.

She walked headlong into the doorframe, bouncing off with a startled yelp.

Kelly and Jill burst into laughter. Sabrina rubbed her nose and sheepishly grinned back at Bosley, her face flushed scarlet with embarrassment.

"See, Boz? How can you possibly be worried. It's all under control?" Jill teased as she flung her arm around Sabrina's shoulder.

Bosley watched them go, shaking his head in amusement. Never a dull moment with those three, he thought to himself.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The three girls pulled up at the home of Teodoro's widow forty five minutes later. Jill parked alongside the curb and turned off the engine of her Cobra. She rubbed her hands together and turned in her seat.

"Well, who's going and who's staying?" she asked her two companions.

"Odds and evens?" Sabrina suggested, making a fist.

Kelly groaned

"I might as well stay in the car, I never win."

Sabrina and Jill laughed at her pessimism and made fists. Kelly sighed and leaned forward to prop herself between them from the backseat. The three girls beat their fists three times against their open palms. Prophetically, after the third strike, Sabrina and Jill showed two fingers and Kelly showed one.

"I think you two cheat. I really do." she said with a rueful smile, falling back into her seat.

Sabrina reached over and patted her cheek.

"Hey, you might actually be the lucky one, Kell. Who knows what's gonna happen in there."

"Oh, Bri don't say that." Jill scolded.

"Just covering my bases. When I die, the last thing I want to be able to say is, I told you so!" Sabrina defended herself with a grin. She opened the door and got out of the car. Jill and Kelly followed.

"Check in with me every five minutes. There's an open window right there. Just wave or walk by it or something so I know everything's ok." Kelly instructed her friends.

"Ok." Jill agreed. "But if I'm waving like this-" She jumped in the air frantically waving her arms over her head. "Then something's wrong."

Sabrina and Kelly laughed.

"Ok, here we go." Sabrina sighed, turning towards the front door. Jill saluted Kelly and followed her.

Kelly watched her friends go and got into the driver's seat of Jill's car.

Stupid game.

"I'm going to always throw two from now on. I'm bound to win sometime." she said to herself thoughtfully as she settled back to wait.

Sabrina and Jill walked side by side up the walkway and to the front door.

"Ready?" Sabrina asked.

Jill nodded and rapped three times on the door. Moments later it was opened a crack by a dark haired young woman in her late twenties.

"Yes?" she asked warily.

"Mrs. Contadino?" Jill asked brightly.

"Yes." the young woman answered, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Hello, I'm Sabrina Duncan and this is Jill Munroe. We are with Townsend Investigations. We were sent by a Mr. Anthony Moretti. We just want to ask you a few questions. May we please come in?"

The young woman glanced at Sabrina and Jill and nodded her head slightly. She closed the door and the girls heard the click of the chain being unlatched before she swung the door open wide.

"Please, come in." she offered in a quiet voice.

"Thank you." Sabrina and Jill said in unison.

The girls entered the house and looked around. By all appearances it was a normal family home. Pictures lined the walls and shelves and children's toys lay scattered along the floor. Something was cooking in the kitchen, filling the home with the aroma of spices.

"You have a lovely home, Mrs. Contadino." Sabrina complimented her, trying to put her at ease.

Mrs. Contadino ignored the compliment.

"How can I help you?" she asked coldly, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Seeing her attempt at small talk had failed, Sabrina decided to cut to the chase.

"We just want some information from you about your late husband. We're trying to find the people responsible for his death and anything you can give that will tell us where to start looking would be a huge help to us." she explained.

Mrs. Contadino nodded her head.

"Please sit." she said softly, gesturing to the couch. "And you may call me Teresa."

Sabrina and Jill thanked her and sat down next to each other on the couch. Teresa took a seat in an arm chair to their right.

"Well, Ms. Duncan, Ms. Munroe, what would you like to know." she asked.

Jill gave her a gentle smile. "Jill and Sabrina, please." she corrected gently. Teresa smiled back and nodded her head.

"What kind of man was your husband?" Jill began.

Teresa gave Jill an indignant look.

"A good man. One that didn't deserve to be murdered in cold blood."

If Jill was surprised by her bluntness, she didn't show it. "No one deserves to die like that. That's why we're here." she countered gently. "Was he in any way connected to the mob?"

Teresa shook her head. "No, my husband wasn't like Anthony. They'd been friends since they were boys and he was always trying to convince Anthony to stop working for those horrible men. He didn't want to have anything to do with it. He was a good man." she said firmly. The corners of her mouth started to twitch and she took a deep breath to steady herself.

"Anthony said that before the shooting, someone walked into the room that your husband knew." Sabrina said cautiously, waiting to gauge her reaction.

Teresa scoffed. "Anthony is a liar. Theo would have no way of knowing anyone like that. He worked, he came home to me and the kids and he had the same group of friends for years."

Sabrina tried again. "He told us that he didn't see him himself but that Theo acted like he knew the man, the man who we think is in charge. Think hard. Did your husband gamble? Did he borrow money? Anything like that, where he could get connected with the wrong people? All it takes is one mistake."

Teresa shook her head while Sabrina talked.

"I've told you. No, he didn't do any of those things. He coached my son's soccer team, he helped me around the house. He was a good man." she said angrily. She covered her face and started to sob.

Sabrina and Jill looked at each other. Either she was entirely convinced or in complete denial. They needed to change their strategy. Jill rose from her seat, made a brief stop at the window to signal Kelly, and then knelt next to Teresa's chair.

She took her hand. "What if he was trying to help someone? Like he tried to help Anthony. Did he mention a friend or relative recently, that he had been talking to?

Teresa wiped her eyes and shook her head. She paused suddenly as though just remembering something.

"He had been spending time with Johnny Conrad. He was Anthony's neighbor. He was giving him guitar lessons, he said." she told them quietly. "I doubt that it means anything, but that boy was killed too and so was his father. Theo was over there giving him a guitar lesson when it happened." She looked thoughtful. "Johnny's lessons were usually on Thursdays but for that week he changed it to Wednesday."

Sabrina and Jill looked at each other. Finally, something to go on.

"How long had he been giving lessons to Johnny?" Sabrina asked.

Teresa tilted her head, mentally calculating the weeks. "Not long. Less than a month." She teared up again. "Theo played so beautifully." she said sadly.

A small child suddenly appeared from another room. She was little more than a baby with curly black hair and big brown eyes. The little girl toddled over to her mother and clung to her leg, looking at Sabrina and Jill in wide eyed wonder.

Teresa looked down lovingly at her daughter.

"Hi, my baby." she cooed, scooping the little girl into her arms. "This is Maria, my youngest." she explained to the girls.

They smiled at the little girl, who was now busily cramming her fist in her mouth. Jill rose from her position by Teresa's chair and made her way to her previous seat by Sabrina, again stopping momentarily at the window.

"She's beautiful." Jill said with an adoring smile.

Teresa nodded. "She looks just like her daddy." She hugged the baby to her chest and let out a shuddering sigh.

Another little girl walked into the room flanked by a little boy, both in search of their little sister. They were older than Maria, the girl about six or seven, the boy four or five. They had the same straight dark hair and brown eyes that their mother had. They paused in the doorway and studied the newcomers for a moment. The little boy turned and scurried back to where he had come from. The girl stayed to collect her sister.

"Sorry Mama, I was coloring and she opened the door when I wasn't looking." she apologized.

Teresa smiled warmly at the girl and beckoned her to come. The little girl went and stood by her mother, smiling bashfully at Sabrina and Jill.

"This is my oldest, Claudia. And you saw Little Teddy just now."

The angels smiled at the little girl.

"Hi, I'm Jill and this is Sabrina." Jill said sweetly, waving to little Claudia.

She waved back shyly. Teresa kissed her oldest daughter's head and said something in Italian to her. Claudia nodded and hefted her little sister off of her mother's lap, heading to her room. She paused in front of Sabrina and Jill and gave them a little smile.

"Nice to meet you." she said politely.

"Nice to meet you too, sweetie." Jill answered back with a smile.

Teresa watched her daughter leave and then turned to the girls with a steely look in her eyes.

"My children have to grow up without their father. Please find whoever did this. It won't bring him back but maybe then I can have peace." she said firmly.

"That's what we're going to do." Sabrina said, rising from her seat. She handed Teresa her business card. "If you think of anything else or you find out something, please let us know."

Teresa took the card and nodded her head.

"Thank you very much." she said softly.

She walked Sabrina and Jill to the door. They bid her farewell and headed back to the car where Kelly was no doubt waiting impatiently.

"Kinda tugs at your heart strings doesn't it?" Jill asked her softly as they walked.

Sabrina nodded her head slowly.

"Yeah, poor kids. That's gotta be rough for them." she agreed.

Jill nodded. "I had sixteen years with my dad, I couldn't imagine if I had lost him so young. No memories of what he looks like, what his voice sounds like." Jill continued sadly. She trailed off, her face taking on an uncharacteristically sad, far away look.

Sabrina turned to her friend in surprise. In the nearly two years they had known each other, she had only seen Jill sad once or twice. She gave her a sideways hug.

"We'll find this guy before he takes away anyone else's dad."

Jill nodded and smiled.

"Sorry, I guess I'm in a mood today." she apologized.

"Don't be sorry, I still get sad about my mom and it's been nearly fifteen years now." Sabrina reassured her.

The girls reached the car. Kelly was looking expectantly at them through the window.

Jill paused with her hand on the door handle. "I want this guy real bad, Bri." she said seriously.

Sabrina turned and looked at her friend. "Me too, Jill."

Anxious to know why her friends were stalling, Kelly got out of the car and walked over to them. She paused uncertainly when she noticed their downcast expressions.

"Everything ok?" she asked, studying her friends.

"Yeah Kell, just a little bit too much reality in there." Sabrina said with a soft smile.

Kelly nodded her understanding.

"Kids and everything, huh?" she said sympathetically.

"The whole package." Jill answered. She reached her hand out for her car keys. Kelly tossed them to her.

The girls got back into the car and Jill drove them away from the Contadino house.

"Did you get anything in there?" Kelly asked from the backseat. "Besides depressed." she added with a grin, trying to lighten the mood.

Her joke fell flat. Sabrina and Jill both stared at her in the rearview mirror. Kelly shrank back.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so unfeeling." she apologized, taking their stares as a sign of offense. She never had parents, what would she know about the pain of losing one like both her friends had? Ashamed of her poor taste, she made a mental note not to repeat her mistake.

"No, Kell, you're ok." Sabrina said quickly, seeing her guilty face. "Actually yeah, we did get something. Theo had been giving weekly guitar lessons to John Conrad for the past month. The day they were killed, they had rescheduled the lesson for a different day of the week. Kinda coincidental, don't you think?" she told her.

"You think it wasn't really guitar lessons then?" Kelly asked.

"Exactly." Sabrina confirmed.

"That is strange, having them start these lessons weeks before being killed together. Bosley was told they had gotten together to play poker. Either Moretti's not being straight with us or Theo and John were up to something."

"I bet the kid was a drug mule just like Moretti used to be. Either Theo was trying to talk him out of it, or he was helping him." Jill added.

Sabrina tilted her head thoughtfully.

"It's possible. Let's check out John Conrad's sister and see if that gets us any closer."

Jill swung her Cobra around in the direction to Lisa Conrad's apartment.

Hopefully, this next stop would bring them that much closer to the truth.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The apartment complex where Lisa Conrad lived wasn't far and the girls pulled up and parked within fifteen minutes of leaving the Contadino home. The complex was very nice, Lisa Conrad must have been doing quite well for herself for someone so young. Deciding that it would be unnecessary for one of them to stay behind, all three girls got out of the car. It would be impossible to park within sight of most of the apartments, anyway.

Kelly was relieved.

The three girls searched for apartment 1348 in frustration for several minutes, baffled by the apartment complex's method of numbering their doors.

"When the hell does 1600 come before 1200?!" Sabrina ranted in exasperation as they changed directions for the eighth time.

"The dictionary?" Jill quipped.

Sabrina paused and stared blankly at Jill a few moments before a smile spread across her face.

"That was terrible, Jill." she said, shaking her head.

"No, that was clever. You're terrible." Jill shot back without missing a beat.

Kelly grinned at them, amused by their banter. "Is this the kind of action I miss out on every time you two leave me in the car?"

Sabrina and Jill turned and gave her an amused look.

"We're actually toning it down for you." Sabrina laughed.

"Hey look, there's 1300!" Jill exclaimed happily, pointing up to the second floor. The girls sighed in relief and headed towards it.

Their relief was short lived.

"Wait, where are the stairs?" Kelly wondered aloud.

She had a valid point. No staircase could be found.

"You're kidding me!" Sabrina moaned. She was tempted to just start hollering Lisa Conrad's name. Maybe she would hear and come to them.

With the path in sight, they continued their search for stairs for several minutes.

Several frustrating minutes.

"Ugh, I didn't know M.C. Escher designed apartment complexes." Kelly said in disgust as the girls wandered in circles.

Jill giggled.

"I'm looking for a rabbit hole to fall down. This place is ridiculous."

The girls laughed bitterly at their predicament.

A young woman about their age walked between them holding a basket of laundry. She was short, with curly brown hair and dressed very casually. She nodded to them as she walked by. Seeing a ticket to freedom, Sabrina quickly jogged over to her to walk by her side.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for a friend's place. Can you show me how to get to 1348?" she asked pleasantly.

The young woman stopped walking and stared warily at her as Kelly and Jill approached them.

"1348 is my apartment. I don't know you." she said suspiciously, her blue eyes narrowing in distrust.

Sabrina turned to her friends with a disbelieving look, then looked back to the girl.

"Lisa Conrad?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's me. Who are you?"

"I'm Sabrina Duncan, and these are my associates Kelly Garrett and Jill Munroe. We're from Townsend Investigations. We want to ask you a few questions about your father and brother, if you don't mind."

Jill dug into her purse for a business card and thrust it into Sabrina's hand. Sabrina held it out to Lisa.

She took it and examined it closely.

"Townsend Investigations? Detectives?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am." Sabrina answered her.

"Who hired you?"

"Anthony Moretti."

Lisa made a face. "Tony Moretti? Tony hired you?" she asked, her voice dripping with contempt.

Sabrina nodded her head. Nobody seemed to like Mr. Moretti. She got an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

"Ok, if talking to me will help. Come on up." she said, hefting the basket to her other hip.

"Do you need any help with that?" Kelly offered, stepping forward.

Lisa smiled. "Uh, sure, if you don't mind."

Kelly smiled and took a handle of her laundry basket as Lisa led the way to her apartment, taking a path that it would have taken the girls hours to figure out.

"This place is confusing." Jill piped up as they walked, trying to make small talk. "I feel like we should have left bread crumbs."

Lisa smiled.

"Yeah, it took me awhile to figure out."

"This is a nice place, though. How long have you been living here?" Kelly asked.

"A little over a year now." Lisa answered.

"Much nicer than my first apartment." Jill added with a smile.

"Mine too." Kelly agreed.

"Thanks." Lisa said with a soft smile.

"What do you do for a living, if you don't mind my asking?" Sabrina questioned casually.

"Oh no, not at all. Right now I'm going to school, but I'm a freelance writer for several local magazines. They pay well."

The girls murmured their approval, though none of them had ever heard of her work. They finally arrived at her door and she keyed it open for them. The four women entered the apartment. Kelly and Lisa set her laundry basket down by the front door.

"Have a seat. I was going to make some coffee, would you like any?" Lisa offered pleasantly.

The girls looked at each other.

"Sure, that would be great." Jill responded after a beat.

The girls looked around the apartment. It smelled like something was baking. There was an unfinished puzzle on the table that Lisa had hurriedly pushed aside on her way to the kitchen. A few open books and magazines lay scattered across the living room couches along with half finished drawings and sheet music. A flute lay on the coffee table. Lisa Conrad had understandably been keeping herself busy lately. Sabrina and Jill were both personally familiar with the common coping mechanism and recognized it right away.

Lisa busied herself in the kitchen for a few minutes while the girls waited at the table. She returned with a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies. The girls looked at each other again. They had forgotten to eat dinner. They all grabbed a cookie.

The coffee brewing in the kitchen, Lisa sat down at the table.

"How can I help?" she asked, taking a cookie and looking at the angels.

"We just have a few questions about your father and your brother we were hoping you could answer that would help us with our investigation." Jill started. "These are very good by the way." she added, pointing to the half eaten cookie in her hand.

Lisa smiled. "Thanks. What can I answer for you?"

"Was your brother in anyway connected to the Italian mob?" Jill asked her.

"Not that I'm aware of, but I've been so busy with school, I hadn't talked to him much the past few months."

Jill nodded thoughtfully.

"Do you remember him mentioning that he was taking guitar lessons?"

Lisa tilted her head thoughtfully.

"He had always wanted to, but I don't remember him mentioning it."

"Do you know a Theo Contadino?"

Lisa took a bite of her cookie and shook her head.

"What about your father, any connections to the mob?" Jill went on, deciding to change the topic.

A dark look crossed Lisa's face. "The closest he got to the anything like that was Tony. Have you checked up on him? I bet he had something to do with this."

Jill turned to her friends and raised her eyebrows. There was that contempt for Mr. Moretti again. He apparently didn't have many fans.

"Did he ever mention Mr. Moretti doing anything illegal?" Kelly asked.

Lisa shook her head.

"No, he liked the guy. Tony was always over watching T.V. or drinking beer with him."

"Or playing poker." Kelly added with a smile. She was testing a suspicion she had.

Lisa shook her head again and laughed. "No, that's one thing Dad never did. He never gambled."

Kelly shot a look at her two friends. They nodded in understanding. Moretti's story had yet another hole in it.

"Let me go get the coffee." Lisa said suddenly. She stood and walked into the kitchen.

"This keeps getting more and more confusing. I think we need to check out the Conrad house where the shootings took place." Sabrina whispered. "The cops may have missed something."

"And after that I think we need to talk to Moretti again." Kelly whispered back.

Sabrina and Jill nodded their heads in agreement. They definitely needed another talk with Moretti.

Lisa returned with four mugs of coffee and a small pitcher of cream a few minutes later. Jill quickly stood and helped her hand them out.

"Sugar is on the table, help yourselves." she said. Her voice sounded strained and her eyes and nose were red as if she had been crying the entire time she was in the kitchen. The girls watched her carefully as they fixed their coffee.

"What kind of kid was your brother?" Sabrina asked finally.

Lisa sighed. "He was a bit of a trouble maker, he cut up in class a lot, nothing major. But, he really was a good kid. He had a lot going for him. He would have started his senior year this fall." She wiped at her eyes.

"How close were you to him?" Sabrina went on. She hated putting the poor girl through this, but they had to know if they could trust her judgment of him.

"We were very close when we were younger. I hadn't talked to him nearly as much since I moved out last year. We still had a good relationship, though." Lisa answered.

"If he was into something illegal, would he have told you?" Jill asked.

Lisa nodded her head. "Yes, definitely."

"Was he acting strange at all the last time you talked to him?" Sabrina pressed.

"No, he was relaxed, he had just finished the school year. Started a summer job. He seemed happy."

"Where was he working?"

Lisa shook her head. "I have no clue, I'm sorry."

Sabrina looked disappointed. She turned to Jill and Kelly. They seemed stumped as well. Lisa Conrad seemed to be too out of the loop to be of any real help to them. All their conversation had uncovered was more doubts about their client's honesty.

"Well, you've been a big help, thank you very much for your time, Lisa." Sabrina said finally, rising and extending her hand.

Lisa shook it. "Thank you for looking into this, the police aren't getting very far."

Jill smiled. "If you think of anything, please let us know."

"I will, thank you." Lisa said, as she walked with them to the door. "Do you think you can find your way out."

"Yes, we'll manage, thank you." Jill said with a smile. They exited the apartment and closed the door. As they walked down the breezeway, the airy tones of Lisa's flute floated out in the direction of her room. Their visit had not been easy for her, they could tell.

"That didn't get us much, did it?" Kelly said dejectedly to her friends.

"No, not really. But maybe the house will have something for us." Sabrina said thoughtfully. She looked around. "If we can ever get out of here."

Jill laughed. "And when we do can we please get something to eat first. It's almost 8:30 and I'm starving. One cannot live on cookies alone."

"Yeah I'm hungry too." Sabrina agreed.

Kelly opened her mouth to agree but her stomach growled it's agreement before she could. The girls shared a laugh as they navigated their way out of the apartment complex.

After stopping for some dinner, the girls headed towards the Conrad home. It was nearly ten at night, but the house was on a busy street and traffic was still heavy. They would have to figure out a way inside. Jill parked in the driveway and the girls got out of the car. Sabrina and Jill idly walked down the driveway, trying not to look suspicious and wondering how to break into the house without being detected.

Jill turned and in horror, noticed Kelly kneeling by the front door unabashedly picking the lock. She spun Sabrina around and the two hurried over to stand behind her and block her from the view of the street.

"What are you doing, Kell?!" Jill hissed at her. "Everybody can see you!"

"I know." Kelly replied absently, still working at the lock.

"Every single car driving by is seeing you! Someone's gonna call the cops on us!" Sabrina said. "Get away from there!"

"I know what I'm doing. I was a thief, remember?" Kelly said. Just a few more seconds and she'd have it.

"No wonder you got caught then." Sabrina shot back at her, nervously looking over her shoulders.

Kelly stopped her work and turned back at her friends.

"A simple psychology lesson for you. The more people that witness a crime, the less likely that anyone will report it. Everyone just assumes that the next person will do it, and so on and nobody ever does. It was always easier stealing in a crowd than it was anywhere else. People don't like to get involved. No one is going to call the cops."she explained. She tilted her head.

"Unless of course you two stand there looking nervous and make this take longer than it should."

Sabrina and Jill gazed at her in wonder. Kelly grinned and turned back to her lock. Seconds later, the lock clicked free and she opened the door.

"After you." she said, making a grand welcoming gesture. Sabrina and Jill rushed inside and Kelly followed, locking the door behind her. Once safely inside, Sabrina looked nervously through the peephole as if expecting someone to come in after them.

"Relax, we're in downtown L.A." Kelly said happily. "No one is going to care."

Sabrina looked back at her friend. "How did you figure that out? Did you just decide one day, what the heck, I don't care if anyone sees me?"

Kelly gave her a sad smile. "People always look the other way. I've known that since I was a little kid. Trust me."

Jill and Sabrina exchanged glances, deciding to trust whatever personal experiences had led Kelly to her cynical logic.

Kelly disappeared into the kitchen.

"Oh, man." Sabrina and Jill heard her call out. They quickly followed her and took in the ugly scene in the kitchen.

"Wow." Jill said, looking around the room uneasily.

Dark bloodstains were soaked into the linoleum floor in patches, a testament to the horrific events that had played out in the room a few weeks before. The crime scene tape was still up around the area where the bodies had been lying. Apparently no one had been by to take care of house just yet or else they'd have removed the tile.

"Looks like they took all the slugs out." Sabrina said slowly, noticing the empty bullet holes in the floor and wall.

Jill shuddered. "Probably. We know what happened in here, let's look around the rest of the house. See if we can find anything to help us out."

The girls split up and thoroughly searched every room in the house. They weren't exactly sure what they were looking for but they all were secure in the knowledge that they would recognize anything important. After an hour, they met up in the living room empty handed and feeling unaccomplished.

"I didn't find a thing that could help us." Jill said frowning. "I checked the master bedroom and both bathrooms. Not a thing."

"Same here." Kelly agreed.

Sabrina looked at her two friends. "Me neither. But here's something interesting. I checked the kid's room and you know what I didn't find?" she asked.

"A guitar." Kelly and Jill concluded at the same time.

Sabrina nodded her head.

"Exactly. No guitar, no music books, nothing. We need to find out what was going on here during these lessons because whatever it was, it didn't involve music."

"It's late, Bri. Let's call Bosley and have him meet us at the office tomorrow. Maybe he can tell us how to get ahold of Mr. Moretti." Kelly suggested.

Sabrina nodded. "Good idea."

The girls exited the house, relocking the front door behind them as they left. They got into Jill's car and prepared to leave. Jill was backing out of the driveway, when Kelly suddenly bolted forward and grabbed her and Sabrina's shoulders.

"Stop, Jill!" she whispered harshly.

"What's wrong?" Jill asked nervously looking around.

"Look at the houses next door."

Sabrina and Jill both looked. The lights were on in both houses. They hadn't been when the girls arrived. Sabrina put it together first.

"There's people home." she realized outloud.

Kelly nodded her head.

"Moretti lied about being out of town then." Jill observed.

"Park a few houses down, I want to make sure it's him in there." Kelly whispered.

Jill obeyed and drove down the street, stopping her car four houses away. Kelly opened the door and stepped out of the car. She came up to Jill's window and gestured for Jill to roll it down.

"Which one is Moretti's?" she asked as soon as Jill's window was lowered enough.

"The one on the left of the Conrad house." Sabrina answered. "Be careful, Kell. I don't like this."

Kelly nodded and jogged down the street towards the Moretti house. She cautiously walked across the lawn to a window and peered inside. There was a curtain partially blocking her view, but she could still see most of the living room. She guessed that there were four men inside. Two were watching television, the other talking heatedly with the fourth, who was out of her view. She sighed in frustration.

She needed a different angle.

After a quick look over her shoulder for any witnesses, she crept to the fence that led to the backyard. It was locked. But that wasn't a problem. Kelly looked at her obstacle carefully, taking in places that would serve as footholes for her to climb it as quickly and silently as possible. With a plan worked out she leapt up and expertly scaled the fence, dropping down into a crouch on the other side.

She spotted another window that led directly to the living room of the house. She'd have to be careful. There was enough light to make it easy to spot her outside. Kelly snuck around the side of the house to the window. Sabrina and Jill were probably yelling at her from the car for being reckless, she thought to herself. But she had to know for sure who was in here. She approached the window from the side and dropped down to her stomach underneath it. Slowly, she raised her head to peer inside from an angle to make herself less conspicuous.

The fourth man she'd been unable to see from her first window was indeed Anthony Moretti. Kelly felt anger bubble up inside of her when she recognized him. She didn't like to be used. What was he playing at?

She could see the men in much greater detail from her new hiding spot. They all looked Italian, with dark hair and eyes. They didn't look like they had gathered for a friendly game of Monopoly either. She watched and strained to hear what they were talking about. It was no use, however. She was about to give up and head back to the car when to her horror, the back door swung open.

Kelly flattened herself against the wall and froze.

"Fine. I'll smoke it out here then!" the man said.

He stepped outside, walking backwards, still facing the other men in the living room. He muttered something in Italian, shut the door and stuck a cigarette in his mouth. The man was so focused on lighting his cigarette, he didn't notice Kelly as he walked right past her hiding spot. He stood a few feet in front of her, staring straight ahead and puffing on his cigarette.

Her heart pounding in her ears, Kelly slunk into the dark shadows where it would be the most difficult to be seen. She was stuck here until he left.

Sabrina and Jill were going to kill her.

A few minutes later, the back door opened again and another man walked outside with a cigarette. He was the one that had been arguing with Moretti. He nodded at the first man and stood at his side. Kelly tried to memorize their appearance. The two men were both dressed casually, in slacks and collared shirts. The first man appeared to be in his early thirties. He was average height and slim. The second man was a little shorter than the first and looked about ten years older and thirty pounds heavier. He bummed a light off of the younger man and the two puffed quietly on their cigarettes. Kelly watched them from her hiding place, hoping they would start talking.

They began speaking a few seconds later, much to Kelly's delight. A few moments later she frowned. She could hear every word they said, but it did her absolutely no good, because they chose to have their conversation in Italian.

She listened in frustration, desperately trying to pick out some words. Having spent the first half of her life in Texas, she knew several words and phrases in Spanish. Italian was similar, but wasn't close enough for her to be able to pick out more than a few useless words. She wished Sabrina was here. Sabrina spoke Spanish fluently and might have been more useful in this situation. Kelly crouched in her hiding place, feeling worthless, for fifteen more minutes until the men finished their cigarettes and went back inside. She waited a few moments more and then hurried past the window, climbed the fence again and headed back to where Sabrina and Jill were waiting impatiently.

Jill started the car as she saw Kelly approaching. Kelly pulled open the door and was immediately greeted by scolding from her two friends.

"Kelly! What is wrong with you!" Sabrina asked in irritation as Jill pulled into the street. "You said you were just going to check to see if it was Moretti in there!"

"And he was." Kelly said defensively.

"So why did you have to go into the backyard?" Sabrina continued.

"I wanted to make sure it was him."

"You were gone half an hour, Kell. We were about to go in after you." Jill spoke up, eyeing Kelly sternly from the rearview mirror.

"I'm sorry, I got stuck." Kelly said quickly. "Bri, does denaro mean anything in Spanish?" she asked.

Sabrina gave her a puzzled look. "Uh, dinero means money in Spanish. Why?"

"I had to hide because two guys came into the backyard to smoke. They were talking in Italian. I don't have a clue what they were saying, but they said that word a lot. The Latin languages share a lot of the same words, I thought you might know."

Jill suddenly laughed.

"I bet they answered all of our questions right in front of your face, only you don't speak Italian." she said, shaking her head at the irony.

Kelly gave her a sideways smile. "Yeah, that would sound about right."

"So, you sure that was Moretti in there?" Sabrina asked Kelly, too distracted by her discovery to be angry at her any longer.

Kelly nodded her head. "Positive. It could mean nothing, but then again, why would he lie to us about where he would be?" she reasoned, more to herself than her friends.

Sabrina and Jill looked thoughtful.

"I don't think we should confront him quite yet. Let's see if we can get him to tip his cards." Sabrina suggested.

Jill nodded. "We'll tell Bosley to meet us at the office tomorrow morning and explain to him what's going on. Maybe Charlie can do some fact digging for us."

Sabrina and Kelly murmured their approval of Jill's idea.

" I think it's time to call it a night. Why don't you two just stay over at my place so you don't have to drive home so late." Jill offered.

"Thanks, Jill." Sabrina and Kelly chorused.

The girls arrived at Jill's twenty minutes later, exhausted and more than ready for bed. Jill called Bosley and set up a meeting for the following morning. They had been in the dark long enough.

Tomorrow it would be time to get some answers.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Are you sure it was him, Kelly?" Bosley asked from behind his desk. It was the fifth time he had asked her.

"Yes, Boz." Kelly repeated patiently.

"He called me last night wanting to know if you three had started yet. He said he was in San Francisco." Bosley said, chewing the tip of his pen. "Why is he lying to us?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it." Kelly answered.

"I agree with Kelly. I think he's using us." Sabrina called out from the bar, where she was busily pouring coffee for everybody. "He wants us to find someone for him. The question is, what does he plan to do once we've found him?" she mused. She finished pouring and started handing out mugs. Kelly and Jill took theirs gratefully. The three girls hadn't slept well last night. There were so many questions and absolutely no answers.

"We need to talk to Moretti again." Jill said, taking a sip of her coffee. "Figure out what he's doing during these little midnight parties of his." She sighed wearily and rested her head on the bar.

"From the looks of it, they were planning something." Kelly said. "Too bad they couldn't have planned in English."

Jill lifted her head off of the bar. She had an idea.

"Do you think we can go back and bug the place? Maybe they'll meet again and we can record their conversation and take it to Charlie. He's bound to know someone who can translate for us." she said excitedly.

Sabrina and Kelly looked at each other. That could definitely work.

"Now there's an idea." Bosley said thoughtfully. "We'd just have to know when they were meeting again."

"Call Moretti and set up a meeting. See what day he tries to avoid. That might be the day he's already set aside." Kelly suggested. The girls had all moved from their seats at the bar and were now crowded excitedly around Bosley's desk.

Bosley nodded and picked up the phone. He dialed the number Moretti had left him and waited patiently for him to pick up. Suddenly aware that all three girls were uncomfortably close to him, he gave them an amused look and stood up to get some room. Sabrina had been resting her hand on his chair and as he vacated it, it slid forward, spilling her to the ground. She popped up immediately and shot Jill a warning look before Jill could open her mouth.

Bosley's attention was pulled away from the girls antics when Moretti answered the phone after the fourth ring.

"Tony Moretti." he answered shortly.

Bosley gave the girls a thumbs up, then immediately regretted it as they crowded around him again.

"Mr. Moretti, hello!" he started. He again pulled away from the girls and waving them off, he leaned over and clicked on the speakerphone. "John Bosley here. Listen, I was wondering if it would be at all possible to meet sometime this week here at the office."

The girls backed away from Bosley and wandered over to stand next to the speaker, watching him intently.

"Is something wrong?" Moretti's voice came back.

"No, no not at all. We're just having a hard time getting started and I think another meeting would help." Bosley explained.

Kelly started gesturing wildly to him. Bosley gave her a baffled look. She gave up her cherades game, grabbed a pen and started scribbling something on the back of a bill he was going to mail later today.

"If you need me to answer questions, Mr. Bosley, we can do it over the phone." Moretti responded, irritation evident in his voice. "Just not right now, I'm in the middle of something."

Kelly finished scribbling and held up the paper to Bosley's face. He pushed her arm back a few inches and squinted, trying to decipher her small, messy handwriting.

ASK HIM IF WE CAN SEARCH HIS HOUSE.

Bosley nodded his head. That would certainly get Moretti's attention and it would give them an opportunity to plant a bug.

"Well, actually we were wondering if it would be alright if we looked through your house. Maybe there's a clue to someone in your past that would help open up some doors for us."

Bosley was correct. That did grab Moretti's attention. He paused for a moment and then began speaking again, his words rushed and agitated.

"There's nothing in my house that would be of any use to you, Mr. Bosley. I don't keep mementos or souvenirs from my past." Moretti said evasively.

"Well, we need more information." Bosley pressed. "If you can't come down, how about a phone meeting with myself, the girls, and Charlie? Would you be able to do that sometime this week?"

Sabrina yanked the pen out of Kelly's hand and jotted down something on the paper. She held it up to Bosley. Her neat text was easier to read than Kelly's.

AT NIGHT

"It would have to be late in the evening, if that's alright."

Moretti sighed loudly.

"Alright, any night but Thursday will work." he agreed reluctantly.

The three girls grinned widely and shared triumphant looks.

Perfect.

"How about Wednesday night, around nine?" Bosley suggested pleasantly.

"Fine. Talk to you then, Mr. Bosley." Moretti said curtly. He hung up.

"Good job, Boz!" Jill cried excitedly, clapping him on the back.

Bosley sighed in relief and picked up the bill Kelly and Sabrina had both written on.

"I was supposed to mail this today." he told them, his face taking on a look of despair.

Sabrina grinned at him. "Sorry, Boz. You should really keep some stationary around here."

Bosley gave her a pained look.

"I do." he said. He reached over a few inches from the stack of papers Kelly had grabbed from and pointed out a notepad. "Right here." he said, raising an eyebrow at Kelly.

Kelly laughed at her hasty mistake. "I didn't see it, Boz. I'm sorry."

"Forgiven." Bosley said, bowing his head.

"Well, I think Mr. Moretti has made it pretty clear that he doesn't want us searching his house." Jill said brightly. She grinned at her companions.

"So when are we going?"

Sabrina looked thoughtful.

"Tonight?" she suggested, raising her eyebrows expectantly.

"Tonight." Kelly and Jill agreed.

The angels pulled up a few houses down from Moretti's home. It was after midnight. Jill got out of the car and stood by the door, a pair of binoculars in hand. She looked through them, trying to see if the Moretti house was unoccupied.

It appeared to be.

"I don't see anything, it's dark inside." she whispered to Sabrina and Kelly, who were still in the car.

"Good." Sabrina whispered back. She stuffed a camera, a flashlight, her CB radio, and some batteries into a small bag. She slung it over her shoulder and got out of the car. "We ready to do this, then?" she asked Kelly and Jill.

"Yeah, Bri." Jill responded. She tossed the binoculars in the front seat and closed the car door.

The three girls crept quietly to the front door of Moretti's home. Kelly knelt down and began picking the lock, while Sabrina and Jill kept watch. No one was home, but that didn't mean no one was coming.

Kelly had the door open a few minutes later and the girls cautiously walked inside. It was pitch black inside the house. Sabrina groped blindly for her flashlight and flicked it on. The bright beam of light illuminated a normal looking den area. Kelly and Jill pulled out their flashlights and aimed them around the house, taking in as much as they could, trying to decide where to start.

"I'll take that hallway and all the joys it has to offer." Kelly whispered, gesturing towards an entryway on the right with her flashlight.

Sabrina nodded, a faint smile on her face from Kelly's dry sarcasm. "I got that one then." she said, pointing to the hallway to the left.

"I might as well stay and look around in here. That way I can spread the word if anyone comes by." Jill said. The girls took out their radios and made sure they were on the same frequency.

"Ok, girls, keep in touch." Sabrina said with a grin, as she headed off towards he designated area.

Sabrina and Kelly disappeared into the darkness of the house. Jill watched as the shadows in the house bounced and distorted with the light from their flashlights as they walked deeper into the hallway. The den darkened once more as her friends went deeper into their respective hallways. She looked around the spacious den, wondering where to begin. Her keen eyes soon spotted a shelf full of framed pictures and she headed towards it, hoping it would yield some sort of clue to her.

There were several pictures of Moretti with what she assumed to be either family or friends. She pulled her little camera out of her pocket and snapped some pictures of them in the hope that they would somehow be useful to her later. She paused at a picture of Moretti, Vincent, and another young man. It looked to have been taken roughly five years ago. The young men were at some sort of sporting event, grinning happily, their arms around each others shoulders. Jill studied their faces carefully. Was the third man another Moretti brother? It was quite possible, his resemblance to Anthony was uncanny. Deciding she had gotten all she could out of the pictures, Jill turned and headed towards the kitchen. If Moretti was anything like her, there would be notes and appointment reminders stuck to the refrigerator door.

She suddenly froze in midstep. Something had occurred to her.

She turned and headed back to the shelf of pictures and scanned them again. A puzzled look crossed her face.

There were no pictures of the wife and child Moretti said he had.

Was he lying about that as well? Jill shook her head and walked into the kitchen. Just as she had hoped, the refrigerator was adorned with a calendar and several notes taped to its surface. Jill read them all. Most were simple doctor's appointments and birthday reminders.

One entry suddenly caught her eye.

LUNCH WITH P- 1PM

It had been scheduled for today. Who was P? Could he be the reason Moretti sounded so anxious on the phone this afternoon? Jill pulled her radio out of her pocket.

"Hey, anybody have an address book within reach?" she whispered into the receiver.

Kelly's voice crackled through to her a moment later.

"Jill. You scared me."

Jill snickered to herself and then repeated her question.

"Are you someplace where he keeps an address book?"

Sabrina's voice answered her this time.

"Negative. I found where he keeps his dirty magazines though. Naughty boy." she tutted, clicking her tongue disapprovingly.

Jill closed her eyes and laughed to herself. The detectives on T.V. never had to deal with this.

"I'm in an office. I got an address book, Jill." Kelly's voice came back to her.

"Oh, good! Go to the P's." Jill instructed. She waited a few moments.

"Ok. What's the name?" Kelly asked.

Jill frowned. "I don't know, it just says P. How many entries does he have under P?"

Kelly was silent for a few seconds.

"Probably a whole lot more than there are dirty magazines." she answered.

"Oh, I doubt that." Sabrina's voice piped up. "There's quite a collection over here. Mother would be proud."

Jill bit her lip, stifling another giggle. Was she with two other detectives, or two members of the Carol Burnett Show? Sometimes the lines were blurred.

"About how many, Kell? It said he had lunch with P today. Remember how he was so anxious when we talked to him? He was meeting with this guy in ten minutes. Maybe that's why. What do you think?" she asked her friends.

"Worth looking into." Sabrina answered.

"I'm writing down all of the names and number with the first and last name starting with P. There's about fifteen of them. Maybe Charlie can eliminate some of them as suspects." Kelly called out.

"Thanks, Kell." Jill said into her radio. She stuck it back in her pocket and continued looking around the den.

After distastefully shoving the box of pornography back underneath the bed, Sabrina stood and went around the bed to the nightstand. She opened the drawer and rooted around, looking for something useful. Instead she found some prescription pills, eyeglasses, and a box of condoms. She shut the drawer and went into his closet, pushing through his clothes. Sabrina had a strange feeling all the while she was going through Moretti's things and as she looked through his closet, it finally dawned on her why. She had seen no evidence of a woman living in this house. Wasn't he married? There were no women's clothes in the closet. Why would a married man need a box of condoms? She picked up her radio again.

"Hey, is this place looking like a bachelor pad to you?" she called to her friends.

Jill's voice came through her radio. "I was thinking the exact same thing. There's no pictures of any wife and kid here in the living room."

"I was just coming to the same conclusion." Kelly called out. "These two rooms are an office and a guest room. I haven't seen any kid stuff at all."

"Ya know? I'm starting to really dislike this guy." Sabrina commented to her two friends. She hated liars.

"If you really don't like him, put a picture of his mother inside one of his magazines." Kelly said casually.

Sabrina laughed. Finished with the closet, she stepped back out and shut the door. There was a large trunk at the foot of the bed. She headed towards it and reached her hands out to lift the lid.

It was locked.

Sabrina studied it carefully. A simple pin and tumbler locking mechanism. She could probably pick it, but it would take her several minutes. Not wanting to waste any time, she picked up her radio.

"Kell? Can you come thieve your way into this locked trunk here in the bedroom?" she called into the radio.

Kelly's voice answered back after a few seconds.

"Can I come thieve my way?" she echoed indignantly. "Thieve my way? Thie- No, I'm afraid, you'll have to ask nicer than that."

Sabrina chuckled and rolled her eyes.

"My dear, sweet friend. Will you please lend me your mechanical savvy to gain entrance to the obstacle before me." she said overdramatically, adding a bow though Kelly couldn't see it.

"That's better. On my way." Kelly said.

Sabrina grinned again.

"You thief." she added quickly.

She heard Jill burst into laughter from the living room.

Kelly walked in a few seconds later, a laughing smile on her face.

"Hey." Sabrina greeted. She gestured to the trunk. Kelly dropped to her knees beside where Sabrina was crouching and playfully shoved her. Sabrina toppled over, unable to keep her balance. The two girls giggled and Kelly went to work on the lock. She popped the lid open a few seconds later.

Both girls gasped in surprise.

"Wow." Sabrina said in awe. She reached in and picked up a packed plastic bag. "Cocaine?" she asked Kelly.

Kelly nodded. "Either that or he's got a mean sweet tooth." she joked.

Sabrina pulled out her radio.

"Jill, get in here. Jackpot."

Jill appeared in the doorway moments later. Kelly held out two bags and Jill's eyes widened in shock.

"Crackpot, you mean!" she quipped happily, not missing a beat.

Her horrible pun made Kelly and Sabrina groan.

"Oh, Jill, of all the things you could have said, that was probably the worst." Kelly said, shaking her head sadly.

Jill laughed and dropped to her knees in between her two friends.

"Whoa, there must be about five million dollars worth of cocaine in here." she observed, looking into the trunk.

Kelly tossed the bags back in the trunk and slammed the lid down with a frustrated sigh.

"Ok, I've had it. We need to talk to Moretti. I'm tired of this."

Sabrina nodded.

"Yeah, me too. Only thing is, what if he flips out? I think we should listen in on that little dinner party of his on Thursday before we confront him."

"Oh, Sabrina, the voice of reason as always." Kelly mused, a grin on her face.

Sabrina smiled back at her. "Somebody's gotta keep you and Crackpot in line."

Jill giggled and rose to her feet. "Let's get out of here, this place gives me the creeps."

"No argument here." Sabrina agreed.

The three girls carefully arranged the house as it had been when they first arrived and exited through the back door.

They were back in the office early the next morning filling Bosley in on their discovery.

"T'm telling ya Boz, Enough coke to put Columbia out of business!" Jill exclaimed fervently to Bosley.

Bosley leaned back in his chair, absorbing everything that the angels had told him about their trip to Moretti's home. The whole situation confused him. Charlie was so thorough when researching clients. How had Moretti even gotten through the door?

"I do believe Charlie needs to know about all of this." Bosley said to the girls. He picked up the phone and dialed the familiar number.

"Charlie, it appears we have a situation with Mr. Moretti. I'll let the girls tell you." he said gravely into the phone as soon as Charlie answered. With Charlie on the line, he clicked on the squawk box.

"Hello, Angels." Charlie's voice greeted them.

"Hi, Charlie." they chorused.

"I understand there are some problems with our client. What's going on?"

"He's lying to us Charlie." Kelly answered immediately.

"He's not married, doesn't have any kids, isn't out of town, and he's into some kind of shady dealing at night in his house." Sabrina continued, pacing back and forth in front of Bosley's desk.

"Oh, and he has a giant trunk full of cocaine in his bedroom." Jill added. She turned and gave Sabrina a puzzled look. "How was that not the first thing out of your mouth?" she added in a whisper.

Charlie was silent for a few moments.

"I don't understand how this could have happened. I ran an extensive background check on him and nothing came up at all." he said, confusion evident in his voice. "Are you sure of this, Angels?"

"Positive." Sabrina answered. She stopped pacing and stood in front of the speaker.

"Charlie, we need to talk to him about this in person. After we listen in on his meeting Thursday night. Can you get him to come down to the office?" she asked.

"I'll do my best, Angel." Charlie answered.

"Oh yeah, and we have some names for you to check out. Moretti had a meeting with someone named P. Kelly made a list of all the P's in his address book. Think you can check them out for us?" Jill asked.

Charlie agreed and Kelly pulled the list out of her purse and read the names and numbers off to him.

"I'll run these through for you, angels, and let you know as soon as possible if I find anything. In the meantime, don't let him know that you suspect anything. He seems the type to get violent. Be careful, angels." he said. There was an audible click as he hung up the phone.

The girls and Bosley stared at each other, reflecting on the situation quietly.

Jill suddenly spoke up.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I can't wait until Thursday night."


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The girls cased the Moretti home all Thursday afternoon in a borrowed ice cream van. Sabrina, dressed to the hilt in a red and white pinstriped ice cream vendor suit, happily drove around the neighborhood selling frozen treats to the neighborhood kids on their way home from school. It was by all appearances, a completely legitimate business.

Far from legitimate however, was what was inside the ice cream truck. Besides a large freezer full of treats, there was state of the art recording equipment. Kelly and Jill sat inside watching the Moretti home and periodically sampling Sabrina's products.

It was far too tempting to resist.

"We should somehow work this into every case." Kelly said solemnly, a half eaten popsicle in her hand.

Jill giggled and licked her own cherry popsicle. What treats her friend had missed out on during her deprived childhood, her sweet tooth more than made up for now. She didn't envy the person who stood between Kelly and an orange creamsicle.

"Hey, let's not get carried away. I'm the one who took the fall for this." she said, still giggling.

Jill had flirted her way into the heart of a thirty something year old ice cream vendor. In exchange for the use of his truck, she had offered him all of the money they made selling his ice cream plus fifty dollars.

And a date next Saturday night.

"The things I do for my job." Jill sighed.

"Look on the bright side. If it works out, we'll have all the ice cream we can eat." Kelly remarked.

She swirled her popsicle in her mouth thoughtfully.

"It pays to have friends in high places." she mused.

Jill laughed and peeked out of the girl's makeshift peephole at Moretti's house. No visitors so far. Sabrina had been careful to stay within sight of the house while she peddled her future date's ice cream.

Jill and Kelly turned as the back door of the truck was pulled open. They burst into laughter as they caught sight of Sabrina in her striped uniform. It had been at least half an hour since they had seen her and both girls had forgotten how ridiculous she looked.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, Hekyll and Jekyll." Sabrina said, a smirk on her face.

"Sorry Bri, you just look so cute." Jill giggled.

"Oh, I'll bet." Sabrina started. She noticed the popsicles in Jill and Kelly's hands and gave them a pained look. "How much ice cream have you two had? Am I going to have to disappoint the rest of the kids I see this afternoon?" she chided them.

Jill discreetly slid some stray popsicle wrappers out of sight with her foot.

"This is only my second one!" she wailed.

Sabrina looked doubtful. She turned to Kelly.

"This behavior I expect out of Jill. But you? You were supposed to be in charge of everything edible back here."

Kelly shrugged, completely unfazed, and licked the last of her popsicle off of the stick before reaching for another one.

"You knew what I was when you put me back here."

Sabrina laughed and stuck out her hand.

"Toss me a grape creamsicle. If there's any left. Next time we use this thing, I get to ride in the back with the goods."

A few hours later, Sabrina parked the ice cream truck inconspicuously across the street. She waited until no one was looking and climbed into the back with Jill and Kelly. A car had pulled up into the Moretti house and two men went inside. The final obstacle before listening in on any telling conversations was to plant the bug, which would record everything inside the home for the next few hours. Sabrina was ready.

She had donned a dark brown curly wig and a set of fake crooked teeth. A drab, loose fitting dress made her appear to be a frumpy librarian type. A pair of thick bifocal glasses completed her ensemble. She looked ten year older and twenty pounds heavier. Her own father wouldn't have recognized her.

Sabrina adopted a matronly waddle and hurried up the walkway. She knocked on the door and waited. A few moments later, the door was opened to reveal a tall Italian looking man in a black turtleneck. He eyed her warily.

"Can I help you?" he asked in a thick Italian accent.

"Yes, I'm sorry to bother you, sir." Sabrina started in a nasally voice. She paused to push her glasses farther up the bridge of her nose. "My son hit a baseball into your yard, would you mind terribly if I went back there and retrieved it?" she asked sweetly. She adjusted her glasses again.

The man looked nervous. "I'll get it for you." he offered.

Sabrina quickly grabbed his arm.

"Oh no, I don't want to trouble you." she said as she stepped inside the house. "I'll be just a few seconds."

At a loss by her pushiness, the man stepped aside and let her in. Sabrina strolled casually across the living room into the backyard. The man followed her and stopped at the door. She went to some thick grass, stooped over and pretended to pick up the baseball that she had already put in her pocket. She held it up triumphantly for the man to see and smiled. The man nodded and waved uncertainly to her.

Sabrina waddled back into the house.

"Thank you so much. And again, sorry for bothering you." she said apologetically as she passed him at the backdoor. He nodded at her again, obviously eager for her to leave. She crossed the living room again and as she neared the front door, suddenly stumbled over her own feet. She flailed her arms for balance and the baseball went rolling into the kitchen, stopping to rest under the table. Sabrina looked up, mortified.

"Oh, clumsy me, I'm so sorry!" she said, waddling after the ball. She bent over and crouched in front of it, effectively blocking the man's view of her as she discreetly stuck the small electronic microphone underneath the kitchen table. Her task complete, she scooped up the ball and hurried out the door with a final awkward smile to the Italian man, who by now was giving her a strange look.

"Have a nice evening!" she said over her shoulder as she walked down the driveway and down the street. She waited until the front door had closed again before grinning broadly, her waddling gait returning to normal.

Sucker.

With the microphone planted, all the angels had left to do was listen and wait. The three girls took turns listening in on the spotty conversations going on inside the Moretti home. The two men who Sabrina had seen inside didn't talk much and when they did, their conversations were trivial.

At 9:15, another car pulled up to the Moretti home. The girls watched as another man went inside. As he approached the front door, yet another car pulled up and Moretti himself got out. The first arrival waited for him by the door and the two men walked inside together.

"I recognize him." Kelly whispered, pointing to the man opposite Moretti. "He was the guy that nearly tripped over me when he came out for a smoke."

"There were four guys last time?" Sabrina asked as she adjusted the volume of the headphones she was wearing.

Kelly nodded. "Yeah, there was four. Hopefully they'll get started soon."

The girls waited in tense silence for the four men to begin their meeting. Sabrina slid the headphones to her neck. The four men were talking, but not together. The television was on and they were moving around, possibly eating. Conversation was scattered and random and held no interest for her. A few minutes later, one of the men cleared his throat and made an announcement. The chatter immediately ceased and the television went off.

Sabrina lifted the headphones back to her ears and signaled Jill to turn on the recorder. She listened carefully.

Moretti's voice crackled through to her, the sound quality fair. The men had gathered in the living room and not the kitchen as she had hoped. She turned the volume up, but it only increased the static. Frowning, she turned the knob back to its previous position and listened harder, her look one of intense concentration.

Kelly and Jill remained silent as they watched Sabrina.

She slid the headphones down after a few seconds and gave them an exasperated look.

"Italian again." she informed them. She put the headphones back on and listened again.

The four men talked for a few minutes. Sabrina was able to pick up much more than Kelly had, but it still wasn't enough to fully understand the situation they were discussing. From she could gather, they were discussing something involve the bags of cocaine they had discovered in his house. But what they were planning to do with it, she had no clue. She was getting more frustrated by the second. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that the whole point of their bugging the Moretti home was to take the recording to be translated.

Still. She hated that she had to wait.

Sabrina turned to give a hopeless shrug to Kelly and Jill.

Jill grinned at her. Her friend's frustration was obvious. She didn't blame her. All three girls were more than ready to blow this case open.

"Want me to knock on the window and ask them to speak in English?" Kelly offered, putting a hand to the door handle in jest.

Sabrina smiled at her.

"Yeah, and while you're at it, ask them if they could kindly move their meeting to the kitchen table so the bug can pick it up better.

"They seem like gentlemen of the highest caliber." Jill started. "I'm sure they wou-"

She stopped mid sentence when Sabrina's eyes went wide and she held up her hand.

Someone had begun speaking in English. Sabrina narrowed her eyes and tilted her head, trying to pick up every word.

"That's bullshit!" she heard one of the men exclaim. She was glad for his choice of words. It caught her attention.

"It will work, trust me." another man said calmly.

"Trust you? I'm lucky to not be dead. They knew you would be here!" the first man continued angrily.

His accusation was met with a few harsh Italian words. Sabrina gathered they were curse words from the man's angry tone.

The conversation continued in Italian. Sabrina listened hopefully for another switch to English, but arguing in anger seemed to feel more comfortable in their native tongue. The arguing gradually subsided and the men calmed down. After chatting for a few minutes longer, the voices suddenly became clearer. The men must have been moving towards the kitchen.

Sabrina waited in anticipation.

"Hey, they're leaving." Kelly whispered. She had been watching from the peephole in the van.

Sabrina took off the headphones and moved to peer through the hole at the men. Two of them carried suitcases with them that they hadn't had upon their arrival. They were no doubt filled with cocaine to sell.  
All of the men, save Moretti, drove off.

Sabrina took the headphones off and Jill stopped the recording.

Jill popped the tape out of the recorder and grinned widely at her two friends.

"You two ready to get some answers?" she asked brightly.

The following afternoon found the angels in the office, anxiously awaiting a call back from Charlie. They had sent him the tape early that morning and through his limitless resources, he was having it translated for them.

Bosley looked up from his paperwork at the three angels. They were all restless, though each girl showed it differently. Sabrina was tirelessly pacing up and down the office. Bosley had watched her make at least thirty circuits of the office, her course varying slightly each time. Jill was busying herself with organizing his desk, though he hadn't asked for her to. She had already cleaned the bar area twice and adjusted the picture frames in the room. She was disturbing his organizational system, but Bosley let her rummage through his things without complaint. Whatever helped. Kelly sat quietly brooding to herself on the sofa, the only outward clue to her restlessness being her knee bouncing up and down periodically.

Bosley looked at his watch. Charlie probably wouldn't call back for at least another hour and he was about to go insane watching Sabrina pace.

They needed to get out of the office for awhile.

"Girls, it's almost two. Why don't you three go out and grab some lunch?" Bosley suggested.

Sabrina stopped pacing and looked at her watch in confusion. It was almost two. Had they really been waiting for over five hours? She looked at Bosley.

"I'm ok, Boz." she said. Jill and Kelly agreed. Sabrina resumed her pacing.

Bosley cleared his throat and tried again.

"Are you sure? You haven't eaten since breakfast and there's this new sandwich place that opened up a few streets down. You girls should try it."

"I'm not hungry, Boz. Maybe later." Kelly said absently. She shifted her position on the couch and drummed her fingers on her lap.

Bosley sighed in frustration. "Maybe you three should take a walk. It's a beautiful day." he said hopefully.

Sabrina stopped pacing and looked at him.

"Aw, Bosley are you trying to get rid of us?" she said with a mock hurt look on her face.

Bosley started to deny her accusation and then changed his mind.

"Yes, I am. You three need to get out of here for a few minutes before you lose your minds. Go get lunch. Bring me back a cup a coffee."

"Are you buying?" Jill asked sweetly, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind.

Bosley scowled but it quickly melted away. Those girls, he thought to himself shaking his head.

"Yeah, anything to get you out of here and away from my desk." he answered with a faint smile.

"Thanks, Dad!" Jill giggled. She kissed his cheek and bounded over to the front of his desk and extended her open palm.

Bosley laughed and pulled out his wallet. He peeled off a few bills and placed them in Jill's hand.

"Thank you!" she said, flashing him a gleaming white smile.

Sabrina and Kelly had been watching the exchange with amusement.

"Thanks, Boz. We'll bring you back something good." Kelly said, holding back laughter.

"I'm counting on it." he retorted. He smiled and waved them away.

The three girls thanked him again, picked up their purses and headed to the door.

"Jill, you're going to have to teach me how you do that." Kelly asked with a giggle.

Jill just smiled at her.

"Oh, Kelly. The essence of Jill cannot be taught. It simply is." she said philosophically.

Sabrina burst into laughter and shoved her into the door frame. Their giggles could be heard as they exited the building. Bosley watched through the window as the three girls piled into Kelly's car.

He leaned back in his chair, enjoying the peace and quiet of the female-less office.

His moment of peace was abruptly interrupted by the phone. He sighed and picked it up.

"Townsend Investigations." he answered pleasantly.

"Bosley. I got the recording translated. I'm sure the angels are dying to know about it." Charlie's voice came back to him.

Bosley turned and looked out the window as Kelly's car pulled out into the street and drove out of sight.

"Yes. I know they are." he said wearily.

They were going to kill him.

The girls returned forty five minutes later with a bagged lunch and coffee for Bosley. As he feared, they wailed their protest when learning that Charlie had called seconds after they left for lunch. Bosley would probably never hear the end of it. After finally settling the girls down, Bosley picked up the phone and called Charlie, while the girls eagerly awaited his news. To his relief, Charlie answered immediately and the angels wasted no time in bombarding him with questions.

"What's going on in there Charlie?" Sabrina asked anxiously, leaning over Bosley's desk to make eye contact with the squawk box.

"Well, Sabrina, it appears that our client is at the center of a huge drug deal. I've notified the police and three men have already been apprehended."

"Did they get the drugs as well, Charlie?" Kelly asked.

"Yes, angel, all accounted for." Charlie confirmed.

"What about Moretti?" Jill asked. "Was he one of the men caught?"

Charlie was silent for a moment.

"No Jill, he seems to have disappeared." Charlie said. His tone suggested that there was more.

Jill sensed it instantly.

"Disappeared? What else, Charlie?"

"Well, Angels, I've discovered why my background check didn't pick up on anything shady in his past." Charlie started slowly.

The girls narrowed their eyes and waited for him to explain.

"The man we met in this office is not Anthony Moretti. His name is Robert Moretti. He is the older brother of Anthony Moretti."

The angels and Bosley's features simultaneously twisted into an expression of dumbstrucked shock.

Kelly recovered first.

"What?" she asked calmly.

"He fooled us all, Angel." Charlie said somberly.

Kelly clenched her jaw tightly and sat back in her seat. Her expression was tranquil. To a casual observer, she seemed calm. To her close friends, however, this was a tell tale sign that she was about to explode.

Jill's outrage came in a much more familiar form. Bosley gaped at her as she let loose a colorful stream of curse words.

"I saw the real Anthony's picture when we searched the house. I should have known." she said, shaking her head in disgust.

"I hate feeling stupid. I really hate it." Sabrina spat angrily. "What now, Charlie? Are we still on a case?" she asked.

The others looked up. That was a very good question.

"Well, Angels." Charlie started. "I'll leave that to you."

"I want to find him." Sabrina said firmly. "He was using us to find someone. I want to make sure he never does."

The other two girls voiced their agreement.

"I hoped that would be your decision. I'm just as upset as you are about being conned, Angels." Charlie agreed.

"And there's still a murderer on the loose, let's not forget that." Jill added.

Charlie considered this.

"Alright, angels. We stay on. This one will be for the sake of our wounded pride."

Arturo Peralta leaned forward on his desk, took off his glasses , and tiredly rubbed his eyes.

This was not going as he had planned it. Four of his men had been executed by some unknown force that threatened his hold on the underground drug trade. The shipment of drugs he had so carefully smuggled into the country had been stolen, and now three more of his men had been arrested. How had Tony Moretti managed to escape each and every time when so many better men had failed? The man seemed to be at the center of everything that had gone wrong.

Peralta considered this fact. Could it be possible he was a traitor? Reporting illegal activities to the police in order to avenge his brother's death?

The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. If Anthony Moretti was trying to run him out of business then he was a threat.

And threats had to be dealt with before they became problems.

He had also heard that Moretti had hired some private detective to help the police search for his brother's killer.

Peralta wiped his glasses on the tail of his shirt and put them back on. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. If the police hadn't been able to find the killer, he doubted that one more detective would.

Still, though. Just to be safe, he could find a way that the detective threat wouldn't find the time to develop into another problem for him.

He thought for a moment before picking up the phone and dialing a number.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Good morning, angels." Charlie greeted. "I hope you enjoyed your break."

Charlie had dismissed them for the rest of the previous day, while he did the necessary legwork to begin this case anew.

"Good morning, Charlie." the girls greeted. Their voices indicated that they had not enjoyed their break.

"Jill, I've taken those snapshots you took of the photos in Moretti's home. The young man in the picture is indeed Anthony Moretti with his brothers Robert, whom we met, and Vincent. No word yet on the whereabouts of the real Anthony Moretti."

The girls nodded their head silently.

"Kelly, the list of names you gave me yields a few likely suspects for the man that Moretti had lunch with a few days back. The most interesting of which is Arturo Peralta. He's the one I'd like you to look into. This could very well be our murderer."

The girls turned as Bosley flashed a picture of a heavyset balding man in an expensive suit. He looked to be around forty years old and would not by any means be considered attractive. His mustache and beady eyes gave him a sleazy dishonest appearance.

"Wonder if he's single." Jill joked.

"I think you can do better." Bosley said with a smile.

"Agreed Jill." Charlie chuckled, clearly amused. "Actually, it's Sabrina that I want to pair him up with."

Sabrina snapped her head up.

"What?" she exclaimed.

"He owns a string of record stores in the L.A. area and he's looking for someone to help with finances. I want you to pretend to be a recent U.C.L.A. grad looking for a position. I've made you a resume and all the references listed have been prepared to give the proper answers. A call to the school will also check out. See if you can find out how he is operating and who works for him legitimately."

Sabrina nodded in complete confidence. The girls had long ago learned not to bother with wondering how Charlie managed to do the things he did. They just accepted it without question now.

Sabrina accepted a manila envelope from Bosley. A quick shuffle through its contents found everything Charlie had told her would be inside.

"Kelly," Charlie continued. "I want you to approach Mr. Peralta as well. You will also be looking for a job, but not a legal one. I want you to try to get in on his shady dealings. These murders were probably the result of a drug war. A few of the record stores that he owns are suspected bases for drug trade. It's very possible that he is masterminding the dealing going on in his stores, but he has yet to be convicted. See if you can find something to positively link him to it. Find out where he is getting his merchandise and how he's doing it. The more we know, the easier it will be to stop him. In your envelope will be a Washington driver's license and a list of the convictions you've been arrested for. A call to the Washington penitentiary for women will confirm that you served six months for theft and drug possession."

"Gee, Charlie, why did you tone down my police record." Kelly said dryly as she rifled through her envelope.

"I didn't want him to think you were taking over, Angel." Charlie laughed.

"What about me, Charlie?" Jill asked, leaning forward in her chair anxiously.

"Jill, I want you to do some reconnaissance work for this one. We need someone to relay information from Sabrina and Kelly and get to places that they can't. I need for you tail him everywhere he goes. The more information we can get about him, the faster we can bring him down."

"I'll be like a phantom, Charlie." Jill giggled.

"Alright angels, get started as soon as possible. We don't want to waste any time with this man. I'll be checking in with you later on. Goodbye angels."

"Goodbye Charlie." they chorused. Charlie hung up the phone.

Sabrina and Kelly spent the next few hours busily memorizing all of the information about their alter egos as they could and together with Jill and Bosley, they formulated a plan. By that evening, the girls were ready. They left early to get as much rest as possible that night. They would need it.

The next morning the angels met up at the office and exchanged contact information. It was imperative that they knew how to get ahold of each other in case of emergency. The girls went over the plan once more and then went their separate ways.

Sabrina pulled her Pinto into the street and headed for Peralta's main office. Charlie had secured her an interview there for 10:30 and she wanted to be early. She had dressed sharply in a business pantsuit and looked every bit the part of a young professional. Sabrina thought to herself for a moment and smiled. Of all her teammates, she was the most educated. Jill had chosen to put her sister through college in her place and Kelly had barely scraped through high school. Her disguise was basically what she would be had she not gone to the police academy. Her college days were not long behind her, she had graduated in May the year before last. She grinned to herself as she thought of her former classmates working their way up from the bottom. None of them had a career as rewarding as she did, she decided.

Somewhere between her thoughts, she arrived at the main office of Peralta Records and parked her car. She jogged up the front steps and went inside.

The building was expensively furnished, immaculately clean and made Sabrina feel like she was forbidden to touch anything. She noticed a receptionist's desk and headed over to it. The snooty woman looked up at her and then looked back down to her typing as if she wasn't there.

Sabrina cleared her throat.

"Hi, I have a 10:30 appointment with Mr. Peralta."

The receptionist looked up and pretended to have just noticed her.

"Oh, you're early. He's with another applicant right now so if you could just have a seat, he'll be with you in just a moment. We're so glad you're here." she said. Her foced smile said "go to hell" moreso than "We're so glad you're here."

Sabrina smiled back at her and took her seat.

At exactly 10:30, the receptionist's phone rang. She spoke to someone briefly and then hung up the phone.

"Ms. Duncan? Mr. Peralta will see you now." she called out looking around the room, though Sabrina was the only other person there.

Sabrina thanked her as she passed and walked through the office door. Peralta was seated behind a large mahogany desk, busily flipping through a thin stack of papers. He looked up as she came in and smiled. Sabrina was instantly struck with an intense dislike for the man and had this been a real interview she would have walked out right at that moment.

"Ms. Duncan." he said, rising out of his chair and crossing the room to her. "So good to meet you." He shook her hand warmly.

Sabrina noticed that he held her hand a bit longer than was appropriate. Peralta put his hand on the small of her back and led her to the chair in front of his desk. His touch made her skin crawl and Sabrina fought the urge to slap his hand away. Jill should have done this, she thought to herself. Her bubbly friend was much more patient and even tempered than she was.

Sabrina sat down in the chair and much to her discomfort, Peralta placed both hands on her shoulders and started to gently rub them. She clenched her teeth and wished for Jill's easy going "turn the other cheek" attitude.

"Relax." Peralta chuckled to her. "You new hires are always so tense." He removed his hands from her shoulders and went back to his chair.

Sabrina hoped her face didn't show her contempt. She hadn't been tense at all until he started touching her.

She forced herself to give him a shy smile, playing to what she figured was his type.

"I just want to impress, that's all." she said back.

Peralta looked her up and down appreciatively.

"You already have, Ms. Duncan."

Instead of rolling her eyes, Sabrina emitted a soft giggle.

Satisfied that he was in complete control, Peralta leaned back in his chair and opened the file Sabrina had brought with her. He raised his eyebrows and nodded approvingly.

"Summa Cum Laude, Finance degree with a minor in business? That is most impressive, Ms. Duncan." he said in a silky voice.

Sabrina smiled at him.

"Thank you, Sir."

Peralta laid her file down. "Oh, please, call me Art. Everyone who works with me is on a first name basis." he purred.

Sabrina looked shocked. "Does that mean I'm hired?"

Peralta nodded his head. "Yes, I believe I've seen all that I need to see. You can start tomorrow morning." he told her, rising from his chair again. He walked over to her and took her elbow in his hand. "Why don't I take you on a tour of the facilities?"

Sabrina let him help her out of her chair. She was amazed at how easily she had gotten her foot in the door. Peralta definitely had a weakness for women. She would have to play that weakness for as much as she could.

Without throwing up.

"Yes, I would love that. Thank you so much!" she gushed, looking up at him in admiration.

You womanzing jackass, she added in her head.

Peralta put his arm around her shoulder and led her out of the room. Luckily, he didn't notice her stiffen as she desperately fought the urge to elbow him in the ribs. She again wished for Jill's patience.

Oh well, she thought, at least Charlie hadn't put Kelly in her place. She would have snapped and broken both of his wandering hands within five minutes.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kelly sauntered into one of the record stores that Charlie had marked for her. It was quite possible that this particular store was the front of many previous drug deals. Just as Sabrina was doing a few miles away, she wondered to herself if Charlie had purposely had her disguise herself as what she would have been had she not joined the police academy. She laughed to herself as she strolled over to a shelf of records and started flipping through them. Thank God she had. This hoodlum life was definitively not for her anymore.

Kelly strolled casually through the store, periodically shooting nervous looks to the clerk, purposely giving him the impression that she was a punk looking to steal something. With her torn faded jeans and worn jacket, she looked like any common street kid. She had purposely tied her hair back and not worn makeup in an effort to make herself look a few years younger. She looked around. There were a few other teenagers in the store. She hoped she looked young enough to pass for one of them. Moretti had mentioned that his boss had employed high school kids, so a high school kid she had become.

Apparently all of her efforts paid off.

"Hey you, you gonna buy anything or are you just hiding from a cop?"

Kelly looked up. A young clerk was looking down disapprovingly at her. He was probably her age and valued his job.

She glared at him.

"I'm just looking around like everyone else." she shot back.

He eyed her warily. Good, just keep watching me, Kelly thought to herself. Their plan involved her being caught stealing. Jill would walk inside in a few minutes to back her up and make sure she didn't get hurt.

Kelly continued to walk through the record store. She was pleased when she saw the clerk leave his post and head to the security guard who was reading in the back. He whispered something in the big man's ear and discreetly pointed her out. The security guard nodded and put down his newspaper. He did a terrible job of feigning disinterest in Kelly as he wandered over and stood a few feet away from her.

The shop door opened and Jill walked in wearing Sabrina's frumpy librarian outfit. She walked right past Kelly, pretending not to know her, and made a beeline towards the clerk.

"Where are your Donny Osmond records?" she asked him in a shrill whiny voice.

Kelly coughed to mask her sudden laughter.

Jill turned and headed towards her. "Excuse me, young lady." she said as she brushed by, purposely bumping Kelly with her hip.

Kelly glared at her.

"Watch it!" she snarled. The anger wasn't real, but she had to do something to keep from laughing.

Jill ignored her and muttered to herself as she pawed through the records.

The security guard gave Kelly a disapproving look for her bad manners and Kelly narrowed her eyes at him. She looked around for something to steal. Jill was in place, and now it was time.

She walked over to a tower of loose records and lifted two of them off of the rack. Knowing that both the clerk and the security guard were watching her carefully, she headed to the group of teenagers and using them to block her, she stuffed them into her jacket.

The group of teenagers made a poor cover. Kelly made sure to act very nervous and overexaggerate her actions so that her intentions were immediately obvious. Her teenage self would have been sadly disappointed.

With the hidden merchandise tucked away in her jacket, she headed towards the door. When the security guard started walking towards her, she willed a panic-stricken look to cross her face and suddenly flung the door open bolted.

"Hey, stop!" the guard yelled at her.

Kelly sprinted down the street, hoping Jill was following close behind. She looked back over her shoulder to make sure the guard was still behind her. She wanted to get caught and it would do no good to outrun him. To her dismay, his large size caused him to be a very poor runner and Kelly found herself slowing down to let him catch up. She looked over her shoulder again a few seconds later. Though she had slowed down considerably, he was still lagging far behind.

"Really?" she said to herself in disgust. She spotted some cardboard boxes laying in the street by an alley and looked back over her shoulder once more as she purposely tripped over them. She fell into a practiced roll to keep from hurting herself, and looked up. The guard had finally managed to close some distance between them. She got up slowly and made a half hearted attempt to run away. The security guard grabbed her by the back of her jacket and swung her around towards him.

"You should make sure to keep your eyes on the road when you're running." he growled at her.

Kelly played her part and made a weak effort to get away from him. There were a few people walking nearby and Kelly was glad for their presence. The security guard looked like he wasn't above hurting a teenage girl.

"Let me go!" she yelled as she thrashed against his grip. The security guard clapped his hand over her mouth and dragged her into the alley.

Kelly felt a sudden surge of fear, as she was pulled out of sight of potential witnesses. Hopefully Jill wasn't too far behind.

The guard slammed her into a wall. "Give it back!" he whispered harshly.

Kelly made a show of looking terrified as she unzipped her jacket and let the records fall to the floor. This didn't satisfy him.

"All of it!" he shouted.

"That's all I took, I sw-" She gasped in pain as he cut her off with a swift punch to her midsection. Kelly doubled over and sank to the floor. Her eyes darted out into the street.

Where the hell was Jill?!

The big man leaned forward until his face was right by her ear. "If you think I don't like thieves, wait till you meet the store manager. We have a lot in common." he whispered threateningly. He grabbed her arm and pulled her roughly to her feet.

"Is he as ugly as you are?" Kelly gasped angrily. His punch had hurt and she was quickly losing her temper. The security guard responded by twisting her arm behind her back. Kelly dropped to her knees with a cry of pain and frantically looked out into the street for Jill.

"Does beating up on girls make you feel good about yourself?" she shot at him through clenched teeth. She regretted it immediately when he cursed and raised his hand to hit her.

She really needed to work on controlling her mouth. Kelly flinched and waited for the blow.

"Oh! How exciting! You caught her!"

Kelly looked up. To her immense relief, Jill was standing in the opening of the alley, looking excited and out of breath.

The security guard lowered his fist and helped Kelly to her feet.

Ever the gentleman now that there's a witness, she thought wryly.

"Yes, ma'am, no one escapes me." he said proudly. Kelly fought back the urge to laugh. The only way she could have made it easier for him is if she had run backwards.

"Are you going to have her arrested?" Jill asked brightly.

The guard began walking, stringing Kelly along by her arm. "I want my manager to talk to her first."

Jill followed, falling in step with the guard, playing the part of the nosy bystander.

"Wow! That was incredible! Do they train you guys to chase down crooks like that?" she pestered.

"Uh, yeah." he mumbled back at her.

Jill crossed in front of them to stand at Kelly's side. "I hope you learn that crime doesn't pay, young lady!" she scolded. While she talked, she gave Kelly's arm a slight squeeze, asking if she was alright. She had noticed her friend's stiff gait. Kelly gave her a discreet nod.

Jill followed them back to the record store to make sure the big man didn't decide to get rough with her friend again. She had lost them during the chase, but had thankfully decided to check the alley. She was glad she did, the guard looked like he was about to hurt Kelly and she wouldn't have been able to stay in character for long if he did.

The manager was waiting in the front for them. Jill felt uneasy. The rest of their plan depended on how the manager reacted. He could see her situation and appearance and offer her a job as a drug pusher.

Or he could take her in the back room and beat the crap out of her. The girls, Kelly especially, hoped for the first option.

She smiled at the manager, hoping to soften him up for Kelly's sake.

"You sure employ athletic people here!" she gushed, her blue eyes widening. "You should have seen this guy run! The kid didn't have a chance!"

The manger humored her with an annoyed nod and turned to the guard and Kelly. He motioned them through a door and gave Jill a nervous smile as he followed them.

Jill watched them go, her throat tightening with concern for her friend. Kelly was a smooth talker, she would come through. That's what she hoped anyway. If not, she had her gun in her purse ready to jump in at a moment's notice.

"Here are a few Donny Osmond records, ma'am. When you're ready to buy, I'll be up front." the cashier said to her as he pushed some records towards her. She leaned back in surprise and then remembering her act, she thanked him and spread them out in front of her as if contemplating which to buy.

She stared at the records absently, her mind on what was going on in the back room. She hoped Kelly was alright.

The door led into a narrow hallway. There were two doors on the right hand side. Kelly guessed the smaller one was a closet and that the other was a break room of some type. The two men took her through the larger door.

Her guess had been right.

There was a table surrounded by a few flimsy wooden chairs. A baseball bat was leaning in the corner. The guard yanked one of the chairs out from under the table and slid it across the room. The manager led her to the isolated chair. Kelly felt a cold shiver run through her as he picked up the bat and hefted it over his shoulder.

"Sit down." he ordered, Without giving her time to comply, the security guard shoved Kelly into the chair.

"What's your name?" the manger asked her, idly swinging the bat in one hand.

"Kelly." she whispered back to him.

"Why are you stealing from me, Kelly?" he asked her calmly, as he walked around her chair. Kelly could plainly see that he was trying to intimidate her.

It was working.

"I need money." she said quietly.

The manger looked to the guard and laughed derisively.

"You need money? Why don't you get a job? That's how everyone else gets money."

Kelly shrugged. The manger was standing behind her now, tapping the bat against the back of her chair. She craned her neck to see him. It was an uncomfortable feeling knowing that he could knock her head off at a second's notice.

"No one will hire me." she answered him simply.

The manager considered this for a moment. He moved to stand in front of Kelly.

"Well, maybe this is your lucky day, kid." he sneered at her. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen." Kelly lied. She held her breath hoping she looked young enough to fool him.

He nodded his head.

"Why don't we make a deal?"

Kelly almost smiled to herself. This was going perfectly. She shifted nervously in her chair and winced as she felt a soreness in her ribs.

Well, almost perfectly.

"A deal?" she repeated meekly.

The store manager nodded his head. "Yeah, you seem like a smart kid. Not much of a thief, but you'll do. How about you work for me?"

Kelly put on a look of confusion. "Work here?" she repeated.

The manager gave her a contemptuous laugh. "No, not here. You work for my boss, run errands for him. Help him move the-" he smiled wickedly. "the merchandise." he finished.

"What merchandise." Kelly asked, narrowing her eyes. The man gave her a piteous look.

"Drugs, kid." he explained as if talking to a toddler. "You help him push drugs, get to places that we can't."

Kelly recoiled.

"No way." she said with a laugh. "Find someone else to take the fall for you."

The manager's smile faded from his face. "You don't have much room to bargain with, sweetheart. This is my final offer." he said menacingly. He hefted the bat from his shoulder and tapped it against the floor.

"Do I get anything out of it?" she asked, her eyes fixed on the bat.

The manager scoffed.

"You get paid, kid. The more you sell, the more comes back to you. You don't really look like you have a whole lot going for you anyway.' he leered at her.

Kelly looked thoughtful.

"And if I refuse, you'll call the cops."

He laughed again and tilted her chin up with the barrel of the bat.

"No, if you refuse, Arnie here is going to break both of your legs for stealing from me."

To prove his point, Arnie rested a hand on the back of her neck and started to squeeze. Kelly shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

"Ok, ok I'll do it. Call him off." she said hurriedly in a frightened voice.

Arnie released her. Kelly looked back to the store manager. His smile made her very uneasy.

"Good idea." he said. "Come back here tomorrow night at ten. The store will be closed so knock on the backdoor."

"Fine, can I go now?" Kelly asked, shifting in her chair.

"Yeah, you can go." the manager said. Kelly stood up and walked past Arnie to the door.

"Hey." the manager called out before she could open the door. Kelly turned.

"Don't think about ratting us out. We'll find you and when we do, it won't be pretty." he said, with a cruel smile. He took a practice swing, the bat whistling through the air. Kelly put on a look of fear and nodded her head quickly.

"See you tomorrow, Kelly." the manager called out after her in a sweet voice.

Kelly opened the door, glad to be out of the confining back room. Jill was still inside, looking around the store. She looked up briefly as Kelly walked back inside the shop and then looked back at her records. Kelly walked past her and quickly exited the shop.

Jill waited several minutes more, before setting her records down and leaving the store herself. She went the direction Kelly had taken upon leaving and looked around for her. She spotted her waiting by a street sign on the corner a block away and headed in her direction. As she got approached, she noticed a triumphant grin on Kelly's face.

"Kell! Are you alright?" she asked urgently, taking hold of Kelly's arm.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Jill examined her friend anyway and was relived to see that she appeared to be unharmed. "So?" she prompted.

"We're in." Kelly answered. "I start tomorrow. The pay is alright, but it's really the benefits that seal the deal." she joked.

Jill laughed and steered Kelly in the direction of her car.

"So what happened in there. I about gave myself an ulcer waiting for you to come out." she asked as the two girls walked.

"Well, they were very persuasive. They gave me an offer I couldn't refuse." Kelly said slowly.

Jill narrowed her eyes in concern. "They didn't hurt you did they?"

Kelly laughed. "No, you saved me from that. Thanks, by the way. That guy was about to split my head open."

Jill smiled. "Yeah, I almost lost you. You and the slowest security guard in the world, and I almost lost you. I must be slipping."

"You lost us?" Kelly echoed with a horrified expression on her face. "Jill, I could have died happily without ever knowing that."

"Well, thanks to me, you didn't." Jill giggled

Kelly shoved Jill playfully and the two girls giggled as they got into Jill's car.

"So, mission accomplished here. I wonder how Sabrina's doing?" Kelly wondered aloud.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sabrina was on her very last ounce of self control. She had been groped, prodded, pulled and manhandled in every way possible throughout her tour of the facility. She wanted nothing more than to give Mr. Peralta a solid right hook across the jaw.

"And this is the conference room." Peralta continued, snaking his arm around Sabrina's slim waist. Sabrina held her breath and counted to ten. She made a mental note to never let herself be alone with him ever again.

"It's a lovely place, really." she forced herself to say.

Peralta nodded. "I just wish it was bigger, so I'd have more to show you. I really enjoy your company, Ms. Duncan."

Sabrina bit her tongue to keep from screaming in frustration.

"Me too." she said, batting her eyes sweetly at him.

"We'll have to get lunch tomorrow. On me, as a token of my appreciation for you coming on board with us." Peralta said with a wolfish smile.

Sabrina forced herself to smile and nod. "I'd like that, Art."

"Tomorrow then." he agreed. "Well, Ms. Duncan, I hate to part ways, but I must be off to tend to some things." He gave her a thick stack of documents. "Show these to the receptionist and she'll give you everything you need."

Sabrina accepted the file.

"See you tomorrow, Sabrina." he said, giving her an elegant bow.

She fought the urge the slam her knee into the side of his head.

"Goodbye, Art." she said, as she walked towards the stairs that would lead her to the receptionist's desk.

He turned and walked down the hallway. Sabrina headed down the stairs and paused for a moment. She shuddered. I need a shower, she thought to herself. Hopefully, she wouldn't have to be working here very long. She was more than certain that Peralta would be the type to oversee dangerous illegal activity and hoped they could prove he was dealing drugs and arrest him.

And if not, he should be arrested anyway.

She smiled at the receptionist as she handed her the stack of papers.

"Well, Ms. Duncan, welcome aboard." she said, examining the documents. Again, her tone conveyed the opposite meaning of her actual words. Another "go to hell" without words.

Sabrina waited patiently as the receptionist handed her a pass key and took her picture for a name badge. She handed Sabrina several forms to sign and then neatly stacked the papers and pushed them asie..

"We'll see you tomorrow, Ms. Duncan." she said in her usual manner.

Sabrina nodded. "Can't wait."

As she left, she snatched a bowl of paperclips off of the receptionist's desk and discreetly pocketed them. Her retaliation was childish, she knew, but it felt good. As she walked out of the front doors, she smiled to herself, picturing the receptionist and Peralta struggling wildly to maintain a storm of flying papers in a paperclip-less world. The image was soothing.

Still smiling to herself, she gripped the smooth ceramic bowl in her pocket.

Peralta, she thought to herself, this will be the first in a long series of disappointments for you.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Two weeks had gone by since Sabina and Kelly found themselves in the employment of Art Peralta. All three girls had a great deal of information, yet no solid evidence to link him to either the drug trading or the murders. All they had was a hunch. The girls were tired and frustrated. For the second time that week, they met at Sabrina's apartment to compare notes and see if they could find something that would help them.

"We need to catch this guy." Sabrina said miserably. "I don't know how much more of his wandering hands I can take." She groaned and rested her head on the kitchen table.

"Well, he's very good at this. I haven't seen him do anything illegal other than break the speed limit. And I don't think that would do much to convict him." Jill agreed. She had been tailing him constantly. The man must have had minions all over the city, because she had yet to catch him anywhere near even an ounce of cocaine.

Jill doodled on the pad that she had been using to jot down her notes. She drew a crude caricature of Sabrina and Peralta holding hands and slid it across the table to Sabrina.

Sabrina burst into laughter, crumpled the sheet into a ball and threw it at Jill.

"That's not funny!" she laughed.

"You know what's not funny?" Kelly piped up from her spot on the couch. "Running around all night doing this guy's work for him. That's what's not funny."

Kelly had spent the past two weeks moving "merchandise" as the store manager, Fred, called it. Fred got his orders from a CB radio, but try as she might, Kelly couldn't get him to reveal who the leader was. She was up at all hours of the night, loading and unloading boxes of cocaine. They were still waiting on a few more shipments of merchandise to come in before they would distribute it amongst the pushers. Kelly would make sure plenty of policemen would be there to help them.

But the drug bust would do no good if they didn't catch the ringleader. Kelly sighed and sprawled herself out on the couch.

Sabrina and Jill gave her a sympathetic look. Poor Kelly looked overworked and exhausted.

"It's almost over, Kell. Hang in there, we'll get something, we just have to keep trying." Jill soothed.

Kelly grumbled an unintelligible reply.

"You look tired, Kell. Why don't you go lie down in my room?" Sabrina offered sympathetically.

Kelly shook her head and sat up. "I'm fine, Bri."

Sabrina sighed. " Then, let's go over this again, maybe we'll get something." she suggested wearily.

An hour later found Sabrina and Jill nearly tearing their hair out in frustration. Kelly, worn out from her late nights, had long since fallen asleep on the couch. Not having the heart to wake her exhausted friend, Sabrina had tossed a blanket over her with the decision to wake her if they discovered anything.

Jill raised her head wearily from the table.

"So, you don't think he would keep financial records at the office?" she asked Sabrina for the third time.

Sabrina sighed.

"No, I doubt he would do something that obvious. And I already looked everywhere." she said patiently. She raised an eyebrow at Jill. " Like I said five minutes ago."

Jill rolled her eyes and crumpled up the sheet of paper she had been writing on. She turned in her chair and tossed it at Kelly's sleeping form. She giggled to herself when it caught in her hair. The trashcan was next to the couch where Kelly was sleeping and one errant toss from Sabrina forty five minutes ago had created an instant source of amusement for the two girls. Kelly had several crumpled wads of paper on and around her.

Another hour dragged on and Kelly accumulated several more wads of paper, before Jill threw her hands up in frustration.

"Sabrina! We don't even have to be doing this! There is no client! Why are we torturing ourselves?" she vented loudly.

Sabrina didn't have an answer for her. She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"I don't know, Jill." she said, shaking her head.

The phone rang suddenly, startling them. Unfortunately for Kelly, it was located on an end table a foot away from her head. She bolted upright in alarm and looked around frantically, clearly disoriented and confused by the sudden loud noise. The wad of paper fell out of her hair into her lap and she gave it a bewildered look.

Sabrina crossed over to the phone and picked it up.

"Hello?" she answered, suppressing an urge to laugh as she watched Kelly examine the wads of paper all around her with a puzzled look on her face.

"Sabrina, are Kelly and Jill with you?" Bosley's voice called out to her. There was something to his tone that put Sabrina on guard.

"Yeah, Boz, they're here." she said. "What's up?"

"Get over to the office. It appears we have a client again." he said.

"We'll be right over." Sabrina said uncertainly and hung up the phone.

"What was that all about?" Jill asked. She had moved over to the couch and was sitting next to Kelly, gently rubbing her back to calm her. Kelly hadn't quite woken up yet and still looked distressed and confused.

"He wants us at the office. He said we had a client." Sabrina explained.

"What?" Jill asked in confusion. "A client? Who?"

Sabrina shook her head.

"I don't know. I guess we'll find out when we get there." She reached over and ruffled Kelly's hair. "You ok, Sleeping Beauty?"

Kelly rubbed her bloodshot eyes and nodded her head. Her heart was still hammering away in her chest.

"Yeah. Phone scared me." she muttered. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep."

Jill laughed. "You're fine. You've actually been the most productive out of the three of us." she said.

Kelly smiled at her and plucked a wad of paper off of her lap.

"Have I?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. She threw it at Jill.

Sabrina giggled and rubbed her hands together. "Well, shall we meet this mysterious client?"

"Oh, why not?" Jill said brightly. She pulled Kelly up off of the couch and the three girls left Sabrina's apartment, curious as to who this new client could be.

They arrived at the office shortly afterwards and Sabrina and Jill anxiously hurried up the steps. Kelly lagged behind. She had fallen asleep in the car on the way over and was still unable to think clearly enough to keep up with her friends.

Sabrina went back to hurry her along and the three girls walked into the office together.

Bosley was standing, in the middle of conversation with a man whose face they couldn't see. As they entered, Bosley looked up at them. The man turned in his seat.

Moretti.

Kelly alerted instantly.

"What are you doing here?" Jill blurted out in bewilderment.

Moretti got up from his chair and walked towards them with his hands held out.

"Please, I still need your help." he begged.

The girls took in his appearance. He looked unkempt and seemed nervous and desperate.

Bosley walked over and put his hand on Moretti's shoulder.

"Why don't you tell them what you told me." he said. He gave the girls a look and took a seat. The angels warily sat down on the couch and waited expectantly.

Moretti nodded and started to pace the room. When a few moments of silence had gone by, Kelly spoke up.

"It helps to start at the beginning." she said, distaste obvious in her voice.

Moretti glanced up at her, surprised at her harsh tone. He recovered and began speaking.

"Yes. Look, I didn't want to lie to you people but I had no choice. I didn't think you'd help me if you knew who I really was." he started.

"And why is that?" Kelly asked coldly. Jill nudged her with her foot. Kelly turned to receive a admonishing look from her.

"Because I am a bad man." Moretti answered truthfully. "Or at least I used to be. I couldn't reveal my identity to the police or I'd be arrested on the spot, so I pretended to be Anthony. I moved into his house, changed my driver's license, everything." He barked a short laugh. "People always told us we could be twins." he added.

"Where is Anthony now?" Sabrina asked.

Moretti shook his head sadly and shrugged.

"I don't know, I haven't seen him since a few weeks before the shooting. We had a falling out and he took off. Just left to God knows where." He sighed. "I don't think he even knows about Vince."

Sabrina reflected on this a moment. "And Anthony had nothing to do with selling drugs?" she asked.

Moretti shook his head.

"He did, he just never got caught. Besides some stuff he did when he was a kid, he had no police record. That's why it was beneficial for me to take over his identity." He sighed and laughed nervously.

"Up until a few months ago the three of us worked together. Me and Tony did good for ourselves and Vince helped us. But then I wanted out of the business altogether. I've been busted and done time and it's cost me both my job and my fiance. I was done with it so I tried to straighten myself up. I told Tony about it and he flipped. Thought I was going to turn him in. I think that's why he split. Then a few weeks later we were attacked. I wanted to catch the killer, and I still do. That's why I took Tony's identity. I want to help. I want to see them put away." he finished emphatically. Drained by his lengthy explanation, he slumped into a chair and buried his head in his hands.

The girls and Bosley shared a wary look.

"And the drugs?" Sabrina asked.

Moretti shook his head, but didn't look up.

"I was forced to. There's a guy named Art Peralta that's running a huge drug deal. Smuggling the stuff right out of Bogota to sell here in the states. We used to work for him. If I didn't cooperate, he would have killed me." He lifted his head.

"I have a feeling that he killed my brother." he said, his face twisting in hate.

"Why would he want your brother dead?" Bosley asked.

Moretti's face darkened.

"Not Vince. Tony. He probably thought Tony was a threat to him. He had been trying to branch off his own business. He was using this kid that lived next door to him as a mule and Vince was helping him. Tony had already disappeared and I was in his house at the time. As you may have noticed, we look very much alike." he said bitterly.

Jill nodded her head. She had definitely noticed.

"He still thinks I'm Tony and that I have no clue who did it. But I'm almost positive it was him. Peralta is a sick man. He'll do anything to stay in control." Moretti continued angrily. "He used my brother and my friends as an example."

The girls were silent as they took in his explanation.

"Please, you have to help me. No one else will." he pleaded softly. "Please."

Bosley cleared his throat.

"What do you think, Charlie?"

The girls gave him a puzzled look.

"It's up to you angels." Charlie's voice came out from the squawk box. No one but Bosley was aware that he had been on the line. The angels honest opinion was important to him and he had asked Bosley to secretly put him on the line to hear what the girls had to say.

The angels shared a pained look.

"Can you help us bring Peralta down?" Jill asked, her eyes narrowed.

Moretti nodded his head, still staring at the squawk box.

"Yes. I can help you, I know how he operates."

"So is that a yes, angels?" Charlie asked.

Sabrina and Jill shared a look. Kelly refused to meet their eyes.

"Yeah, Charlie. We'll do it." Sabrina answered for them. She turned to look at Kelly, concerned by her silence. Kelly stared stonily ahead and said nothing. Sabrina bit her lip and looked back at Bosley.

"Alright angels. The plan stays the same, we'll just have a new ally." Charlie said. "Robert, where are you staying right now?"

Moretti laughed. "Everywhere I can." he said simply.

"Then I'll get you adequate lodging somewhere where you can stay under the radar until we can get everything sorted out."

"I'd really appreciate that. Thank you." Moretti said gratefully.

"I can't guarantee that your cooperation will completely clear you of all charges, but it might help."

Moretti nodded. "I don't care about that, I just want him caught."

"We'll see how things work out." Charlie said simply. "In the meantime, Bosley will drive you to your hotel. I'll book you a room under a false name. Just lay low for awhile and let the girls take care of things."

"Yes, sir. Thank you so much." Moretti said quietly.

"Well, I think it's time that we all got a good night's sleep and started fresh tomorrow." Charlie suggested. "I'll call back in a few minutes to give you directions to the hotel, Bosley. Angels? Get some rest. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Charlie." the girls chorused.

Bosley clicked off the squawk box and leaned back in his chair, giving the girls a weary look. Moretti rose and nervously excused himself for a cigarette. Bosley watched him leave and then turned his gaze towards the girls again.

"What a day." he said drolly.

Sabrina sighed.

"Yeah." she said back. She looked towards her two friends and noticed how tired they looked. She probably looked the same way. This case was starting to mess with their heads. Sabrina studied Kelly carefully. Her friend looked pale and thinner than usual. There were dark circles under her bleary eyes and she appeared listless and exhausted. She couldn't keep this up much longer.

Sabrina clapped her hands together and rose from her seat.

"Well, why don't we call it a night, ladies?" she said cheerfully. She extended a hand to Jill and Kelly and pulled them to their feet.

"You gonna be alright, Boz?" Jill asked with concern.

Bosley smiled and nodded.

"Oh yes. We've become the best of buds." he said sarcastically. " I'll just drop him off and we can meet back here tomorrow morning."

"Are you sure, Boz?"

"Yes, Jill. Go on and get some rest, you girls look tired. Especially you, Kelly. You look awful." he said, giving her a sympathetic look.

Kelly sighed in defeat.

"Gee, thanks, Boz."

Jill smiled and threw her arm around Kelly's shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll be sure to tuck her in tight tonight."

Kelly gave her a rueful smile. "Not too tight. I have to be at the shipyard at eleven thirty. Work, work, work." she said bitterly.

The girls walked outside and passed Moretti, who quickly pulled his cigarette out of his mouth and crushed it under his foot.

"I want to thank you again for giving me another chance." he said sincerely.

"Sure, that's what we do." Jill answered with a soft smile.

He smiled back gratefully and nodded to them. "Goodnight."

The girls bid him goodnight and got into Sabrina's Pinto.

"Ok, Kell, what's up?" Sabrina asked as she pulled her car out into the street.

Kelly looked surprised. "What?"

Sabrina laughed. "C'mon. You think we made a mistake in taking him back?"

Kelly leaned her head against the window and focused on the rows of buildings as they passed.

"I'm mad that he lied to us before too, Kell. I know how you feel." Jill said, leaning from her seat in the back.

Kelly nodded.

"You think he's telling the truth now?" she asked skeptically.

Sabrina looked thoughtful.

"I think he wants to catch whoever killed his brother and he's doing whatever it takes to get it done."

"Yeah , I guess I could see that." Kelly said lightly. She leaned her head back against the window and closed her eyes.

"Well I don't trust him, but I'd rather have him here with us than off somewhere where we can't see him." Jill offered.

Sabrina nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. Plus, if he can help us then that's great. We need all the help we can get."

The girls were quiet for a few minutes.

"So are you with us on this?" Sabrina asked cautiously, watching Kelly for her reaction.

Kelly opened her eyes and looked at her.

"I don't trust him." she said flatly. "Liars lie. That's what they do. When they get caught, they lie even more."

She paused for a moment and gazed at Sabrina and Jill.

"But, yes." she went on. "Of course I'm with you on this."

Sabrina smiled at her. "Don't worry, Kell. We plan to keep an eye on him."

Kelly nodded her head.

"Oh, we will."


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Ah, Ms. Duncan, there you are." Peralta said, peeking his head into the break room.

Sabrina rolled her eyes into the back of her head and willed a pleased look on her face before she turned around to face him. Could she not simply make herself a cup of coffee without being harassed?

"Art. Hi, how are you?" she greeted him enthusiastically.

"Much better now." he said, looking her up and down appreciatively. Sabrina suppressed a groan.

"How does a quiet lunch for two sound, Ms. Duncan?" he asked, giving her his most charming smile.

Sabrina giggled shyly. "Well, that sounds like a date."

Peralta grinned at her. "Maybe it is. I'll be by to collect you around-" He pulled out a fancy gold pocketwatch from the inside of his suit. "-twelve thirty. How does that sound?"

"Wonderful." Sabrina said dreamily.

Peralta swelled noticeably with pride and blowing her a kiss, he stepped back out of the break room. Sabrina sighed in relief and angrily stirred a spoonful of sugar in her coffee.

"How does a quiet lunch for two sound?" she said mockingly. She grabbed her cup of coffee and spun around, sloshing some of the hot liquid out of the cup and onto her fingers. Who still used a pocketwatch?!

"Dammit!" she hissed in pain. She set the cup down on a nearby table and wiped her hand on her slacks. This fake job was starting to get to her. She froze in the middle of her tantrum when she hear a deep male chuckle behind her. Sabrina whirled around, horrified at being caught in her act by Peralta.

She was relieved to see that it was not Peralta who was laughing at her from the doorway, but another man that she hadn't met. He looked to be in his early thirties, tall, and slim with shaggy blonde hair and brown eyes. He was also a much more pleasant sight than Peralta was. Sabrina's relief quickly turned to embarrassment.

"Sorry, I spilled my coffee." she said, smiling awkwardly and jerking her thumb to her mug of coffee on the table.

The man laughed.

"Yeah, I see that." he said good naturedly. He extended his hand. "I'm Tom, by the way. Tom Kessler."

Sabrina shook it and smiled. "Sabrina Duncan."

"Pleasure." he said cheerfully.. He stepped over to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. He held the pot up and raised his eyebrows. "Can I top you off?"

Sabrina laughed. "Sure, why not. Most of mine ended up on my pants."

He filled her cup and put the coffee pot away.

"So, was the boss man giving you a hard time?" he asked casually.

Sabrina sighed. "Yeah a little. He's a-" she paused briefly thinking of an appropriate word. "-very friendly guy." she finished.

Tom chuckled. "Well, not to me. But then again, I'm probably not his type."

"No, definitely not." Sabrina laughed. She looked him over and decided that if the situation was different, Tom Kessler might definitely be her type.

"So, what do you do here?" she asked him.

Tom took a sip of his coffee before answering. "I'm just a lowly sales rep. How about you?"

"I'm in the finance department. You know, boring penny pushers." she joked. If only he knew.

He smiled at her. "Are you new? I haven't seen you around before."

"Yeah, I started here a few weeks ago. Just graduated, this is my first real job." she lied convincingly.

Tom nodded his head in approval. "Congratulations, then."

Sabrina thanked him and decided that this was an opportunity to get some inside information about the other employees working for Peralta.

"So, what do you think of the people working here?" she asked him.

Tom looked thoughtful. "Well, people mostly keep to themselves around here I've noticed." He stopped and smiled at Sabrina. "Except maybe the boss. From what I've seen he doesn't keep to himself when there are women around."

"Don't I know it." Sabrina sighed, rolling her eyes.

"That and he has his entourage with him all the time." Tom laughed. "Us sales guys joke that he's in the mafia."

Sabrina forced a laugh. Tom had no idea how accurate his observation was. She needed to know more.

"Oh yeah? Who's in this entourage of his?" she asked casually, taking a sip of coffee.

Tom shrugged.

"I don't know, they don't work here. I've gone out to lunch places nearby and once in awhile I'll see him with some guys. Sometimes they hang around here. His fan club or something."

How interesting. Sabrina forced herself not to express her interest in these men who appeared to be meeting with Peralta periodically.

"You'll have to point them out to me sometime." she said lightly.

Tom laughed. "Sure thing." He looked at the big clock in the center of the room and sighed.

"Well, coffee break's over. It was nice meeting you, Sabrina. We'll probably run into each other again."

"We probably will." Sabrina answered back with a grin. At least she hoped they would.

Tom smiled and exited the break room with his cup of coffee. Sabrina sighed and looked around the room for something else to do. There wasn't really a whole lot she could do to keep herself occupied. A friend of Charlie's was doing her assignments for her, and all she had to do was pretend to do her job.

Pretending could get boring at times.

She decided to give Jill and Kelly a call to inform them of Peralta's strange companions. Sipping her coffee, she headed back to her office and closed the door. She quickly checked her entire office to be sure no one was inside spying on her, a leftover habit she had picked up growing up with her two snoopy brothers.

Satisfied that her conversation wouldn't be eavesdropped on, she picked up the phone and dialed Jill's car phone. It rang a few times before Jill picked up.

"Jill Munroe."

Sabrina smiled. It sounded like she was trying to talk normally through a mouthful of food.

"Jill, it's Sabrina. You busy?"

Jill swallowed audibly. "Nope, just having some breakfast. What's up?"

Sabrina shook her head and smiled to herself. The three of them had already eaten breakfast together earlier that morning.

"Again, Jill? Anyway, be on the lookout for a group of men hanging around my work. I heard that Peralta has consistently been meeting with the same group of guys. Might be worth checking out."

"Alright, Bri. I'm on it."

Sabrina had a thought.

"Hey, he's taking me to lunch today. Feel free to barge in on us." she said with a grin.

Jill laughed.

"And get in the way of your blossoming romance? What kind of friend would I be?"

"Thanks a lot." Sabrina sighed into the phone. "Is Kelly busy? She should be on the lookout for the Peralta posse too. Maybe one of them is someone she's been working with at night."

"I'll tell her when I get home. She was asleep on my couch when I left, the poor kid."

"Yeah, let her sleep. Ok, I need to get back to work here. Thanks Jill. You're the best."

"I know." came Jill's customary response.

Sabrina hung up the phone and looked at the clock.

11:45

Just fifteen more minutes until her lunch date with Peralta. She hoped she could keep her food down while she stared at him across the table.

* * *

Jill hung up her car phone and popped the last of her banana into her mouth. She was parked outside of the office building where Peralta and Sabrina were working. Be on the lookout for a group of shady men, she told herself.

She took a look around. Her gaze focused first on a group of scruffy looking homeless men loitering by a bus stop. She then noticed a group of young college age men leaning against a sports car in a neighboring parking lot. Another look around brought her attention to yet another group of men smoking by a dumpster. Everywhere she looked there seemed to be a strategically placed group of shady looking men, she noticed with a frown.

This was going to be a piece of cake, she thought to herself dryly.

A few minutes later, Peralta walked out with Sabrina on his arm. Jill bit back a laugh at Sabrina's stiff gait and forced smile. She had a feeling that her friend wasn't going to have a very enjoyable lunch. Jill considered following them for a moment, then decided that Sabrina could take care of herself.

Besides, this would make for an enjoyable story later on.

She laughed as she saw Sabrina make a face when Peralta wasn't looking. The two left in Peralta's expensive luxury car.

Jill leaned back in her seat and waited for something worth noticing.

Sabrina and Peralta returned a little after 1 p.m. Sabrina had a large red stain down the front of her blouse and was trying to cover it with her jacket. Jill grinned and wondered what had happened. Dinner conversation would prove to be excellent tonight. She watched them go inside and sat back to wait again.

A few hours later, restless and bored, she got out of the car to take a walk. She was wearing her comfortable tennis clothes, so she decided to jog around the perimeter of the building a few times. In her athletic wear, she decided that it wouldn't matter if she was seen because she would look like any other jogger out for a run, and at the same time, she could burn off some restless energy.

Jill jogged briskly down the street, keeping an eye on the building she was guarding. She ran around it a few times, and feeling much better, was about to stop when she noticed Peralta exiting the building through a side door.

Jill quickly stepped behind some bushes and crouched to remain out of his sight. Peralta walked forward and looked at his watch. He was expecting someone. Jill remained hidden, panting from her run, and annoyed at herself for being out in the open.

A few minutes later, a red car pulled up on the side of the street and Peralta waved them down and got inside. The car drove off down the street.

Cursing herself for her horrible timing, Jill sprang from her hiding place and hurriedly sprinted the short distance to her car and jumped inside. She started it and quickly pulled out onto the street. She looked around frantically for a moment thinking she had blown her one opportunity to spy on Peralta.

She was relieved to see the red car turn right onto the next block and she pressed the accelerator down determinedly to catch up. Luck was on her side as the red car was stopped at the next traffic light.

Jill narrowly ran a red light and bypassed two stop signs to catch up. Ignoring the loud angry protests of all the vehicles she had just offended with her reckless driving, she pulled to a stop three cars behind her target.

Pleased with herself, Jill followed the car to a small café and watched the men go inside. She waited until she saw them seated from the café window and then followed.

The café was busy and she quickly squeezed into a booth behind the group of men. Hopefully they would talk loudly enough for her to overhear. To not look out of place, she ordered a cup of coffee and a sandwich.

No point in eavesdropping on an empty stomach.

The men had just started talking when a young man came over to her booth.

"Hi." he started shyly. "I noticed you sitting alone and was wondering if you would join me." he said, pointing to his table.

Jill frowned. Any other time, his attention would be greatly appreciated. However, now was not the time.

She gave him a pained look.

"Ok, but I warn you, I'm high maintenance, I want to be married before I'm twenty five, I'm extremely close to my mother, and I demand that anyone I date shop with me on a weekly basis." she said quickly. She gave him an inviting smile and gestured towards the empty seat in front of her.

The young man glanced around uncertainly and walked away without another word.

Jill breathed a sigh of relief and strained her ears to hear the men talk.

They spoke mostly in Italian, with a few smatterings of English every now and then. From what Jill could understand, it definitely sounded like these men were doing some kind of business together. Even if she didn't know exactly what was said, she was confident that she had found Peralta's posse. She jotted down the features of each man, to help her remember what they looked like. Half an hour later, the men left the café, throwing down a few twenty dollar bills to cover their tab. Jill waited until they had left the restaurant before paying her own tab and leaving. She followed the men back to the office building where they dropped Peralta off and left.

Jill picked up her car extension and dialed Sabrina with a grin. She knew her friend would be more than pleased to hear some evidence that would condemn her determined suitor.

* * *

That night, Kelly dragged herself to the abandoned storage facility in the shipyard where her crew was storing the massive amounts of cocaine. She felt tired and sluggish and wanted nothing more than to go home and crawl into bed. She had been spending most nights here in the shipyard and her days working on the case with Sabrina and Jill. Her busy schedule was starting to take its toll.

Ignoring her weariness, she made her way to the darkened building and knocked three times on the locked steel door.

A few moments later it opened and Fred gazed out at her, irritation obvious in his face.

"You're late." he spat at her as he opened the door to let her in.

Kelly walked past him. "No, I'm not. Check your watch again."

Fred glared at her as she passed him. He had been hoping for an apology or anything to make him feel like he had some kind of power over her. This kid was different from all the others.

He wasn't sure that he liked that.

"Hurry up, the others are already here." he growled at her.

She turned and glared at him.

"Don't rush me. If they're already here then that makes them early. And that's not my problem." she answered back defiantly.

Fred fought back the urge to slap her.

Kelly turned her back to him and walked over to where the small crowd of people were standing. She grinned to herself. Fred was nothing more than a bully and she enjoyed taking him down a peg.

The crowd of people greeted her without interest as she approached them.

There were two teenage boys under Fred's employment. Dean and Christian were two high school thugs eager to make a quick buck. They were neutral towards Kelly, torn between her attractiveness and her biting attitude The other three were grown men ranging from their early thirties to their mid forties.

The men were much more business like and treated Kelly and the boys as their underlings. Kelly narrowed her eyes as she watched them. Jill had informed her that Sabrina suspected these men were Peralta's informants. Sabrina had given her a description of the three men she had seen Peralta with and according to her description, these men seemed to be it.

It was all circumstantial evidence though. They needed something more concrete.

They needed Peralta to show his face here.

Kelly leaned against the back wall and waited for instructions. The latest shipment of cocaine was due to arrive any minute now. She had so far discovered that whoever was in charge had connections in Bogota, Columbia. The contact was smuggling out the drugs in hidden crates in the departing cargo ships. Once the ships arrived in California, the crates were again smuggled out and delivered up the coast to Los Angeles by speedboat. It was a well planned and smooth operation.

So far.

She, Sabrina and Jill couldn't wait to ruin it for them.

Kelly yawned and leaned her head back. She felt herself drifting off and forced herself to stand straight.

Finally, the sputtering sound of a speed boat engine came to her attention. The crowd of people moved towards the back door and out onto the railing that overlooked the dock. The speedboat was docking itself along the pier about fifteen feet below them. The crew walked down the rickety staircase and towards the boat. The driver finished tying off the speedboat and jumped back inside to start handing off the crates.

It took an hour for the group to haul out all of the heavy crates. As the only woman there, Kelly was by far the least amount of help and her companions made no effort to show their contempt for having to help her carry the cumbersome merchandise. Kelly, however, was enjoying herself and pretended to be much weaker than she was, letting her male companions support most of the weight as they carried their cargo up the steep staircase.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with being passive aggressive.

Once inside, the group pried open the crates and carefully measured out packages of the fine white powder. Once measured, the drugs were bagged, sealed and carefully stored for later purpose. In just a few more days, the last shipment would be arriving, and the group would wait for dealers to come and buy it, much like an underground, illegal auction. There would be enormous amounts of profit for Peralta, if he was indeed the man in charge.

When they had finished storing the last of the cocaine, Kelly rose from her work station and sighed in relief. She couldn't wait to get out of here and go to sleep.

"Hey, you three don't go just yet. I need you to deliver something for me." Fred called out, as the tired group began to dissipate.

Kelly muttered under her breath. Now what? She walked over to where Dean and Christian had gathered in front of Fred and waited impatiently for instructions. Hopefully, this wouldn't take long.

Fred handed Dean a map. "Here, there's a little shack that we use every now and then about forty five minutes north of here. Take three of these crates over there. That'll be our own personal stash."

Kelly fought the urge to ask why she was needed for this delivery. This would take at least two more hours.

She reluctantly followed the two teens to Christian's car and loaded the selected crates into the back. They drove in exhausted silence to the cabin, following the map that Fred had provided. It proved to be accurate and they pulled up to the seemingly abandoned little shack forty five minutes later, just as Fred had told them. Kelly wearily climbed out of the car. They had to hide the crates inside and then drive all the way back to the shipyard before she could go home and get some sleep.

Apparently, the average drug dealer had no need for sleep.

As dawn began to streak its way across the early morning sky, Kelly wearily trudged back to her car. Her back was aching from having to bend over a work table for hours and her eyes stung from lack of sleep. She keyed the engine and drove away from the desolate shipyard. Her house was the farthest away from the shipyard and she found herself staying over more and more at either Sabrina or Jill' as she became too tired to make the thirty minute drive back to her place. She drummed her fingers on the wheel as she tried to figure out where to go. She had stayed with Sabrina the past few nights, so she decided to go to Jill's.

It was nearly six in the morning, but Jill was an early riser. She would probably be getting up soon.

Also, Kelly was fairly sure that Jill would be making breakfast.

And breakfast sounded good.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Lisa Conrad paced nervously in her apartment, plagued by a guilt that had been bothering her for weeks.

She hadn't been completely honest with those three lady detectives that had visited her. If she had known those horrible men would have been coming by nearly every day, she would have gladly given them the information that was undoubtedly needed to put him away.

Johnny had been way over his head and had wanted out. Like a good sister, she had listened to him lament his decisions over and over again and had tried her best to give him the advice he needed.

And then he was killed, taking her innocent father with him.

She knew who he worked for but had deliberately kept that information from the detectives in order to keep her brother's name untarnished.

Not to mention her own.

She wasn't proud of her contribution to her brother's illegal activities, but there was bills to pay and quick cash was hard to come by in her line of work. Dealing had allowed her to enjoy a lifestyle that she could have never been able to afford with her usual salary. But now that decision was coming back to haunt her in the form of frequent unfriendly visitors.

After her father and brother's murder she had quit, and now they wanted her back. Her refusal was taken as betrayal and she knew she was being watched constantly. They had no doubt seen the detectives leaving her apartment and probably suspected her for selling them out. She had been receiving threats daily and felt herself nearing a nervous breakdown.

Lisa suddenly stopped pacing and stared at the phone. It was time to end this. Maybe she'd get a lighter sentence for testifying against that horrible man. It might be the only way she'd ever truly be free of them and this was a chance she'd have to take.

She took a deep breath and picked up the phone.  
____________________________________________________________________________________

"So I agree to go to lunch with him and the guy turns into a damn octopus!" Sabrina wailed, pacing frantically.

The angels had gathered in the office later that morning to give Charlie their findings and were happily listening to Sabrina tell them about her lunch date with Peralta while they waited for Charlie's call.

"His hands were all over me! I turned into a contortionist trying to get away from him!" she continued.

Kelly, Jill, and Bosley were enjoying Sabrina's tale far more than she wanted them to.

"Why are you laughing? It's not funny! I got mauled!" she whined, turning to see their laughing faces.

"Who says it was funny?" Jill said through giggles.

Sabrina glared at her and sent a couch pillow flying in her direction.

Jill blocked it and burst into another fit of giggles.

Kelly was laughing silently behind her hand, keeping her cool for Sabrina's sake. "And then what happened, Bri?"

"So then we eat, and this guy wants to feed me! No one has fed me since I was old enough to hold a fork! He actually thinks he's being romantic! It's disgusting!"

Jill rolled off of the couch in hysterics. Kelly and Bosley exchanged amused glances and waited for Sabrina to continue.

"After we eat, he wants to sit and talk for awhile and he orders some wine." Sabrina continued. "And halfway through it, he gets up to go to the bathroom and I'm sitting there thinking maybe I should leave and tell him I had an emergency or something."

Kelly lowered her head and shook with silent laughter at Sabrina's heart felt animated story telling.

"When he came back he went up next to me and tried to kiss me!"

Unable to control herself any longer at this final hilarious revelation, Kelly doubled over and fell on her side on the couch with uncontrollable laughter. Jill saw her and lost it again, while Bosley shook his head in amusement at the scene the girls were making.

"I wasn't expecting it and I spilled my wine all over me. Luckily that stopped him and he took me back to the office."

Jill howled and clutched her side as she remembered the huge stain on Sabrina's blouse the previous day. She slapped Kelly's leg and breathlessly tried to tell her about it, but was unable to. Kelly burst into hysterical laughter again at Jill's failed attempts at speech and the two girls grabbed each other as tears spilled down their cheeks.

Sabrina stopped talking and glared down at her incapacitated friends. Bosley laughed and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, it looks like I'm the only one on your side. What would you like me to do to that cad.?" he asked with a grin.

"Nothing you can do about him, Bosley." she said. She turned to her two friends who were still laughing uncontrollably. "But these two hyenas-" she said pointing an accusing finger at them. "You should fire them!"

Bosley laughed again. "Good help is so hard to find though."

Sabrina grabbed a couch cushion and playfully slapped at Jill and Kelly.

"They aren't any help at all!"

Sabrina finally burst into laughter herself and sank to the floor with her two friends.

Bosley buried his face in his hands and chuckled to himself. Did he actually get paid to be entertained like this?

The happy scene was interrupted by the phone.

Bosley raised a finger to his lips to quiet the three girl's laughter. The girls shut their mouths and tried their best to settle down, wiping tears from their eyes.

Once the girls were relatively calm, Bosley answered the phone.

"Townsend Investigations." he called pleasantly. He gave the angels an admonishing look as they burst into laughter again.

His eyes suddenly widened in surprise. The girls noticed and instantly sobered. They got to their feet and crowded closer to the Bosley.

"Yes. Yes, I'll tell them." he said quickly into the phone. "They'll be right over."

All three girls were crowded around Bosley's desk impatiently waiting for him to explain.

Bosley hung up the phone and stared back up at the girls.

"Well?" Jill asked.

Bosley cleared his throat.

"Well, it appears Lisa Conrad was withholding some information from you regarding our case. She's willing to talk if the three of you go over to her apartment."

The girls exchanged glances.

"Why is it so hard for anyone involved in this investigation to give us a straight answer the first time around?" Sabrina asked, rolling her eyes.

Bosley shrugged.

"She sounded very upset. I think you three should go there now."

"We're on it, Boz." Sabrina agreed. The three girls turned and collected their purses before heading out the door.

"Be careful, girls." Bosley called after them.

* * *

The girls had no trouble navigating Lisa Conrad's apartment complex this time. They quickly headed to her apartment door, curious about what it was she wanted to talk to them about. Hopefully it would be something that would help them break the case. Jill knocked on the door.

The girls were surprised when it creaked opened a few inches. They stopped and backed away from the door, noticing for the first time that the door frame was splintered and cracked around the lock. It appeared to have been kicked in. The girls exchanged a wary look.

"Looks like someone got here before we did." Jill whispered tersely. They drew their weapons and Sabrina carefully pushed the door open. They entered the apartment silently, splitting in different directions, ready to strike if need be. A quick check revealed the living room and dining room to be empty. Kelly peered over the hightop counter that separated the kitchen from the living area. The kitchen appeared to be empty as well.

Jill raised her arm and motioned to the short hallway leading to the bedroom and bathroom, the only remaining rooms in the apartment. She crept into the hallway, Sabrina and Kelly close behind her. They watched her carefully push open the bedroom door and peer inside. Empty. She disappeared into the bedroom to investigate further.

Kelly opened the bathroom door slowly. It appeared to be empty as well. Still not at ease, she slinked quietly to the tub. The shower curtain was drawn.

Was somebody hiding in there?

She motioned to Sabrina, who nodded and leveled her gun. Kelly counted to three on one hand then ripped the curtain open, ducking to the floor in case Sabrina had to fire.

There was no need. The shower was empty.

Kelly and Sabrina sighed, letting themselves relax. Whoever was here had gone.

"Do you think Lisa got out of here before someone broke in?" Sabrina whispered, for some reason still feeling on guard.

Kelly shrugged. "No clue." she said. She paused, a puzzled look crossing her face. "Hey, I thought I saw her purse on the table."

Sabrina frowned. Lisa's apartment door was kicked open, she was gone, and her purse was here. Something horrible had happened, Sabrina could feel it. Had Lisa been abducted?

"Are you sure?" she asked uneasily, though she knew how observant Kelly was.

Kelly and Sabrina turned and headed back into the living room. Sure enough, there was a woman's purse on the table.

The girls exchanged a look and went towards it. This wasn't looking good. The purse was sitting next to a set of keys and a half eaten sandwich.

Sabrina cursed softly and reached for the purse.

A loud crash interrupted her. Startled, the girls whipped their heads around. It had come from the bedroom. Before they could react to the first, there was another crash followed by a sharp cry of pain.

"Jill." Kelly whispered with dread.

Weapons drawn, the two girls immediately rushed to the bedroom where Jill had been moments ago and burst inside. There was a man in black climbing out of the window. He moved faster as he noticed Sabrina and Kelly enter the room.

"Stop!" Sabrina shouted at him. She rushed forward and took hold of his leg. He kicked her away and she stumbled backwards into Kelly. Kelly steadied her and both girls scanned the room frantically for Jill. They quickly found her.

Jill was lying facedown next to the bed. She wasn't moving.

Sabrina swore under her breath.

"Take care of her, I'm going after this guy." she said angrily. She raced to the window and pulled herself through.

"Be careful!" Kelly yelled after her as she hurried to Jill's side. She dropped to her knees next to her unconscious friend.

"Jill?" she whispered, her voice tight with worry. She placed her hand flat on Jill's back. She could feel her breathing. Thank God.

"Wake up, Jill. Please, wake up." Kelly pleaded desperately. She gently shook her friend's shoulder. There was no response. Cursing to herself, she gingerly rolled Jill over onto her back. She inhaled sharply as she saw her friend's face.

"Oh, Jill." she moaned in despair. Blood was gushing from Jill's nose, covering her face and staining the neck of her blouse a dark crimson. It looked broken and was already starting to swell and discolor. Kelly felt sick. Her hands shook as she turned Jill's head to the side to keep the blood from pooling in her nose. She quickly ran her hands over her friend's body, looking for any other serious injuries. She was relieved when she didn't find any. She quickly hurried to the bathroom and returned with a few towels.

She sat down and gently cradled Jill's head in her lap, pressing a towel against her face to staunch the bleeding. There was so much blood and Jill's face was so pale. Kelly's stomach knotted with worry for her friend.

"C'mon, Jill." she whispered, desperately willing Jill to open her eyes.

She heaved a sigh of relief when Jill suddenly stirred and reached an arm up to her face. Kelly caught her wrist and lowered her arm.

"Easy, Jill." she said softly, stroking her hair. "Don't move."

Jill moaned and opened her eyes.

"He was hiding behind the closet door. I let him get away." she mumbled weakly, the towel muffling her voice.

Kelly smiled, relieved to hear Jill speak. " It's ok, Jill." she soothed. She leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "Just relax."

Jill nodded her head slightly and closed her eyes again.

* * *

Sabrina leaped down the fire escape to the sidewalk, her target still in sight.

"Stop!" she shouted again, as she raced after him. He looked back over his shoulder but didn't comply. He turned a corner out of her sight.

She followed, bearing down on him as fast as she could. She took the corner wide, in case he was ready to attack her on the other side.

The fleeing man didn't seem to be concerned with offense however.. As she turned the corner, she saw him still running, half a block in front of her. There was no way she could catch up before he lost her. She aimed her gun and squeezed off a shot.

The man in black bucked forward as the bullet hit him in his left arm. He stumbled against the side of the building with a grunt of pain, but to Sabrina's dismay, kept running.

With a cry of frustration, Sabrina lowered her gun and picked up speed. He may not have gone down, but at least it would be much easier to catch him now. She pounded down the sidewalk after him. Seeing her speed up, the man clutched his arm and kept running.

Sabrina was pleased to see herself gaining on him. The man was going to answer to her for what he did. He had better pray to God that Jill wasn't badly hurt. She already felt like smashing his face in. She was closing the gap between them and she'd have him in a just a few more seconds.

Or so she thought.

She was within fifteen feet of him when a black car blew past her and screeched to a stop by the curb a few feet ahead of the man in black. He looked startled for a moment and then lunged toward it and threw himself into the open window.

Sabrina watched in outraged disbelief as the car sped away, her target's legs still dangling from the open window. She didn't even get a good look at the license plates. She slowed to a halt and watched the car disappear down the street.

"Dammit!" she yelled in frustration. She kicked a metal trashcan that was nearby. She had been so close.

Sabrina stood panting for a few moments. The man had been lanky and thin, his movements giving her the impression that he was young. Maybe late teens or early twenties. That wouldn't be a great deal of help. She sighed at the frustrating lack of details she had, then suddenly remembering Jill and Kelly, she turned around and ran back to the fire escape. She would think about the culprit later. Right now, she had to find out if Jill was ok.

Figuring it would be faster to go back the way she came rather than enter through the front door, she climbed back up the staircase and popped her head into the bedroom window. Kelly was sitting against the far wall, with Jill laying in her lap, her eyes closed. She was holding a bloody towel to Jill's face.

Her other hand was aiming a gun through the open window. Kelly lowered her weapon when she saw Sabrina's face.

"Bri, what happened?" she asked anxiously.

Sabrina lowered herself to the floor through the open window and brushed her hands against her pants.

"He got away." she said quickly. She came over and knelt by Jill. "Is she ok?" she asked in concern, gently running her hand over Jill's hair.

"I think so. She's awake, just kind of groggy." Kelly answered.

"I'm fine." Jill insisted stubbornly as she opened her eyes.

"What'd he hit you with?" Sabrina asked, looking around the room.

"Montana?" Jill guessed.

Kelly and Sabrina snickered, releasing their worried tension. Looking around the room, they both noticed a brass flower pot lying next to the window. A dented brass flower pot. At least they could identify one culprit.

Sabrina lifted the towel off of Jill's face. She winced and sucked in a breath when she saw her injury.

"Stop doing that, you're hurting my feelings," Jill mumbled. She grinned weakly at her friends and with their help, eased herself into a sitting position, still leaning against Kelly for support.

Sabrina smiled back at her and reached over to tuck a loose bit of hair behind her ear. "Still have your humor, huh? Glad to see you didn't get all of your senses knocked out of you." she joked.

"Nope. I still have all of my vast body of knowledge. Didn't forget a thing." Jill said, her voice a little stronger.

Kelly laughed. "You forgot to duck."

Jill leaned her head back and glared up into Kelly's face.

"Sure. Kick me when I'm down."

Kelly and Sabrina laughed again, relieved that Jill was well enough to be cracking jokes. They helped her to her feet, putting their arms around her shoulders and waist to steady her and led her to the living room.

"Ok, slugger, I need to call and report all that happened here. Give me a minute and then we'll get you home." Sabrina said, leading Jill towards the couch.

Jill nodded and sat down, Kelly at her side while Sabrina talked to the police a few feet away.

Kelly reached over and gently peeled the towel away from Jill's face. It was already soaked through in blood.

"That looks terrible, Jill." she said, a pained expression on her face.

"Thank you." Jill said pleasantly. Her voice sounded altered and stuffy with her broken nose and her words came out as "Dank hew."

Kelly smiled and stood up.

"I'll get you some ice and a fresh towel."

"Thanks, Kell."

Kelly walked into the kitchen and flicked on the light.

She froze.

"Bri." she called out calmly.

Sabrina had just hung up the phone.

"Yeah?"

"Call back."

"What?" Sabrina asked in confusion. She looked over at Kelly. Her friend's face was blank and her voice eerily calm. Something was very wrong.

She rushed over, Jill stumbling behind her, to the kitchen. Kelly moved aside to let them in.

Sabrina and Jill gasped in shock.

Lisa Conrad lay dead on the kitchen floor, a single bullet hole through her forehead.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"I'm so tired of getting more questions instead of answers." Sabrina fumed as she paced around Jill's living room.

The girls were still shocked and upset by Lisa's sudden death. What was even more upsetting was their lack of answers. The police had come to Lisa's apartment and the girls had given their statements. They could give very few details. Sabrina hadn't gotten a good look at the man in black or the car that he had escaped in. They had no clue why Lisa had been killed and no clue as to who did it.

It was maddening.

"We've been on this case for over a week. A whole family has been wiped out and we have absolutely nothing to show for it." Sabrina continued to rant.

Jill lifted her head off of her pillow to stare at Sabrina. She was laying down on the couch with an ice pack on her face.

"Well maybe you don't have anything to show for it. I sure do." she quipped dryly. She flopped back down and closed her eyes.

Sabrina's demeanor softened. Her friend was in a great deal of pain, she could tell.

"I'm sorry, Jill. Kelly will be back soon with some aspirin for you."

Jill sighed and nodded.

Sabrina sat down on the couch next to and gently ran her fingers through her hair.

"You sure you don't want us to take you to a doctor? You might have a concussion or something."

Jill shook her head.

"They'll tell me to do what I'm already doing. I broke my nose playing tennis once in high school. I've got experience on my side." she explained.

Sabrina patted her head and got up to pace some more. Kelly walked in a few minutes later, a big bottle of aspirin in hand. She opened it, shook out two pills in her hand and took them straight to Jill. Jill sat up, beaming, as if the aspirin were the most delicious candy in the world. She popped them into her mouth and took a gulp of water from the cup sitting on the floor beside her. She set down her cup and flopped back on the couch.

"Thanks, Kell." Jill sighed.

"How are you feeling, Jill?" Kelly asked gently.

"Like Marcia Brady."

Sabrina and Kelly laughed. At least she still had her sense of humor.

"You'll feel better in a few minutes." Kelly said sympathetically, gently patting Jill's leg.

Sabrina grinned. "Hey Kelly, did you look in a mirror before you went out?" she asked.

Kelly gave her a puzzled look. "What do you mean?"

Sabrina pulled her away from the couch and spun her around to face the full length mirror on Jill's bedroom door.

"Oh my God." Kelly moaned in despair. Her jeans were stained with Jill's blood. Her shirt had a few smears on it from where she had been absently wiping her hand, most notably, a perfect bloody handprint on her sleeve. "No wonder people kept giving me funny looks."

Jill looked up and burst into laughter.

"You're right, I do feel better." she said happily.

Kelly glared at her.

"I'll give you this one."

Jill grinned. "Go borrow some of my clothes before someone reports you."

Still embarrassed, Kelly shook her head and went inside Jill's bedroom, emerging a few moments later with a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She was glad she was at Jill's and not Sabrina's place. Sabrina's pants would have been too long for her and tripping over an extra two inches of pant leg was all she needed right now.

"Well, I guess someone should call Bosley and tell him what happened." Kelly said, suddenly remembering that their co-worker was waiting for them.

Sabrina frowned. She would not be looking forward to this.

"Odds and evens?" she suggested innocently, making a fist.

Kelly rolled her eyes and picked up the phone. It would be the final outcome anyway. They had played several more times since she had decided to change her strategy but sadly her lucky two had failed her on each and every occasion. There just seemed to be no way around losing.

She dialed the office and waited with dread for Bosley to pick up the phone.

"Townsend Investigations." he answered cheerfully.

Kelly took a deep breath. "Hey, Boz. It's Kelly. We got some bad news."

Sabrina paced the length of Jill's living room while she listened to Kelly explain the events of the past few hours. She looked over at Jill and noticed that her eyes were closed. She frowned as she headed over to check on her.

She gently placed a hand on Jill's forehead. Jill whimpered but didn't open her eyes.

Realizing she had just fallen asleep, Sabrina made sure she was comfortable and took the ice pack off of her friend's face and refilled it. She looked up as she heard Kelly hang up the phone.

"What did he say?" she asked nervously.

Kelly sighed and rubbed her temples.

"He's going to call Charlie."

"Does he want us at the office?"

"No, I told him about Jill. I don't want to leave her alone until I know for sure that she's alright and he agrees with me. We're going to meet with Moretti and him later tonight."

She turned to look at Jill with concern.

"You think we should be letting her sleep?"

Sabrina nodded her head and gently draped the ice pack over Jill's face. "I think she'll be alright. It probably hurts a whole lot less when she's asleep."

Noticing that Kelly still wasn't satisfied, she added, "We'll keep an eye on her."

Kelly nodded. She reached into her purse and produced a pack of playing cards. The two girls sat on the floor in front of Jill's couch to pass the time.

That evening, with Jill assuring her two friends that she was well enough to be left alone more than a few seconds, the girls made ready to depart for the office.

"Will you stop hovering? I said I was fine." Jill grumbled. Her headache had intensified ever since her nap and every bright light or slight noise felt like a bomb had gone off inside her skull.

"Yeah, I know you did. Jill, just stay here and get some rest." Sabrina pleaded.

"I'm fine."

When Sabrina wouldn't stop staring at her she sighed in frustration.

"Bri, I just got my face bashed in. Don't I deserve to get my way for a few days?"

Sabrina grinned and patted her shoulder. "You always get your way."

"Exactly. So why try to change things, now?" Jill replied good naturedly, pushing past Sabrina and out the door.

Sabrina sighed and looked at Kelly helplessly. Kelly shrugged and followed Jill outside.

Defeated, Sabrina shook her head and locked the door behind her.

Sabrina made her way to the office, carefully avoiding potholes and sudden stops for Jill's sake. Annoyed with Sabrina's cautious driving, Jill turned and gave her a beseeching look.

"Bri, I know this is a Pinto, but can you please go over twenty miles per hour."

Sabrina frowned.

"Don't make fun of my Pinto." she said, a hurt look on her face.

Jill glanced at Kelly in the rearview mirror and the two girls shared an amused look. Sabrina loved her orange Pinto.

Still mumbling kind words to her car, Sabrina picked up her speed slightly and the girls arrived at the office a few minutes later.

Bosley looked up as the girls came in, his face darkening with anger when he noticed Jill's bruised face. He couldn't wait to meet the bastard who had dared to lay a hand on one of his girls. Bosley quickly caught himself and forced his features to relax.

"Are you alright, honey?" he asked Jill in concern.

"Oh, I'm fine Boz. Just not counting on getting a date for the next few weeks." she answered with a grin.

"You're still beautiful." Bosley assured her with a gentle smile.

Jill giggled. "Oh Bosley, gallant as ever." She skipped over and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Where's Moretti?" Sabrina asked, noticing his absence.

"He took my car and went to his brother's house to pick up some clothes. He'll probably be back in a few minutes." Bosley explained.

Sabrina nodded and sat down on the couch with Kelly and Jill to wait.

When twenty minutes had gone by, Kelly began to get restless.

"Was he making the clothes himself?" she asked sarcastically.

Bosley smiled. "He'll be along soon, I'm sure."

The girls settled back on the couch, chatting idly with Bosley as they waited. After another twenty minutes had gone by, even Bosley started to get restless.

"Maybe I should call him." he said to himself as he picked up the phone. He dialed and listened to the phone ring. After six rings he hung up the phone, a feeling of dread spreading through his stomach.

Anxious now, he looked back up at the girls.

"It shouldn't take him this long. He should have been here by now."

The girls exchanged looks.

"Maybe he stopped to take care of something?" Jill offered.

Bosley shook his head. "He said he'd be right back."

Kelly rolled her eyes.

"Maybe he lied. He's good at that." she said coldly.

Bosley sighed. He thought Kelly was being overly cynical, but at the moment he hoped she was right.

An agonizingly slow hour ticked by while Bosley and the angels waited, their dread growing with the passing of every minute.

Unable to stand the waiting any longer, Sabrina suddenly stopped pacing and turned to her friends.

"Ok, I can't take this anymore. Let's go check on him." she demanded.

Kelly nodded.

"I'm with you, Bri." She stood and grabbed her purse.

"Me too." Jill added, jumping to her feet. Her injury forgotten in the moment, she moved too quickly and suddenly staggered as a wave of dizziness hit her.

Kelly caught her by the shoulders to steady her.

"Thanks, Kell." Jill muttered sheepishly. She started for the door.

Kelly caught her shoulders again and gently but firmly pushed her back into her seat.

"Oh no, you stay here." she ordered.

Jill pouted and struggled unsucessfully to get up again against Kelly's hold. "What good am I here?" she protested.

"Lots of good. Stay here, Jill." Sabrina called from the door.

Jill sighed, a disappointed look crossing her face. She hated being left behind, but realized her friends were right. In her current condition, she would just slow them down.

Kelly grinned at her crushed expression.

"You can babysit Bosley." she joked, earning a faint smile from Jill.

Bosley gave her an exasperated look. "I'm sitting right here, you know."

Kelly laughed. "Sorry, Boz."

"Are we going?" Sabrina interrupted impatiently, halfway outside the office already.

"Sorry, Bri," Kelly apologized. She jogged over to where Sabrina was standing.

"Be sure to check behind all the doors." Jill called out seriously. She would never forget again.

"We won't be long." Kelly assured Bosley and Jill.

The two girls hurried out of the office as Bosley and Jill watched from their seats.

Bosley sighed and turned to Jill. "People keep telling me that."

* * *

The girls arrived at Moretti's home and parked alongside the curb. Bosley's car was parked in the drive. As they approached the front door, they immediately sensed that something was wrong. The lights were off, and the house was eerily silent.

The girls exchanged a worried look and drew their guns. Kelly cautiously tested the door knob. She gave Sabrina a wary look as it turned easily in her hand. With the shocking image of Lisa's murdered body freshly burned into their memory, the girls dreaded what they would find on the other side of the door. A chilling feeling of déjà vu crept up their spines as they silently slipped inside.

It was happening all over again.

With the front door open, the moonlight revealed the shadowy interior of Moretti's living room. Sabrina and Kelly stood motionless, letting their eyes adjust to the light, waiting for any sign of movement.

There was none.

The girls shared another look and flicked on the lights. They let out a gasp as the light revealed the horrific scene that they had missed in the darkness.

Most of the living room furniture was overturned or broken and pieces of splintered wood and couch stuffing lay strewn across the room. The bottom two shelves that had held Moretti's photo collection were split in half, the floor below it littered with shards of broken glass.

Though unsettling, the scene of disarray went unnoticed by the two girls.

Their horror-stricken gaze was focused on the bloodstains that were smeared on the walls and soaked into the carpet.

"Jesus Christ." Sabrina breathed, once she recovered from her shock.

Kelly narrowed her eyes and glanced around the room warily. Someone could still be inside. She lifted her gun and started forward.

Sabrina's arm shot out and grabbed her tightly, jerking her to a halt.

Kelly immediately understood and together the two girls cautiously stepped into the living room. Wincing in anticipation, the girls approached the overturned couch. Most of the blood was soaked into the carpet next to the couch. Moretti was probably lying dead or injured behind it, out of their sight. Slowly, the girls neared the couch and peered over it.

There was no body.

Sabrina exhaled slowly, relieved to be momentarily spared the sight of another dead body.

Tense and anxious, the girls carefully checked the rest of the house.

Their search yielded neither a body or another person in any of the rooms. They sighed in relief, releasing the tension that had built up during their nerve-wracking search.

"Dammit." Sabrina whispered, as she took in the chaos around her. "What happened here?"

Kelly shook her head but said nothing. She felt a pang of guilt for her cold treatment of Robert Moretti.

More than likely he was a dead man now.

"You think there's a chance he's alive?" Sabrina asked quietly.

Kelly shrugged her shoulders, still mentally berating herself for her behavior.

Sabrina took no notice of Kelly's silence.

"C'mon, Kell." she said, taking hold of Kelly's arm. "Let's call the police from the car."

The two girls walked out of the house and shut the door behind them, grateful to be outside. As they walked silently to Sabrina's car, they shared a knowing look. Without verbalizing it, both knew the other was thinking the same thing.

Someone was methodically picking off their informants and both girls were asking themselves the same question.

Who would be next?


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

An hour later, the Moretti home was swarming with activity as several police officers, Bosley, and Jill arrived on the scene.

Having already given their statements on Moretti's last known whereabouts, the angels and Bosley waited on the sidelines, letting the forensic team glean what evidence they could from the crime scene. Moretti had obviously put up a valiant fight. There were handprints on the walls and the couch cushions, indicating he didn't die right away.

If he was dead.

If he had been taken, he had to have been covered in something. There was no blood leading out of any exits in the entire house.

Nothing seemed to make sense, and just like them, the L.A.P.D. had no immediate answers.

While the police combed through the house for evidence, the angels and Bosley split up to tag along beside them. Not wanting to get thrown out for interfering in a police investigation, they made sure to stay well out of the way.

Sabrina and Kelly quietly stood behind a small group of policemen as they searched the carpet for any unusual fibers that could have possibly been left behind by the intruder. As they worked, a glint of light suddenly caught Sabrina's eye.

Tugging Kelly's sleeve, she pointed it out and the two girls casually made their way over to it.

"What, Bri?" Kelly asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"I think I got something." Sabrina whispered back. She bent over and swept aside some debris to reveal the source of the glint.

A gold pocket watch.

Sabrina's eyes widened in instant recognition. It was Peralta's, there could be no mistaking it. Though it was dented and the glass broken, she recognized the distinctive engravings etched into the side that had made her take notice of it in the first place. She looked up at Kelly excitedly.

Kelly had a blank look on her face.

"What?" she repeated impatiently.

Suddenly remembering that Kelly had never seen the watch before, Sabrina blinked and pointed towards the watch.

"That belongs to Peralta." she explained, glancing nervously at the policemen, who had just begun to take notice of her.

Kelly tilted her head. "Are you sure?"

Sabrina nodded. "Yeah, I'm positive. He has it with him all the time."

Kelly raised an eyebrow. "Not anymore."

"Got that right." she agreed. "You think this will be enough to put him away?"

Kelly shook her head.

"No, I don't." she answered. "He's a crafty guy and from what I hear, he has lots of connections. We'd have to actually catch him doing something."

Sabrina nodded slowly.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's get Boz and Jill. I think I have an idea."

Sabrina hurriedly walked outside into the crisp night air, Kelly, Jill and Bosley stringing along behind her.

She motioned frantically for them to huddle together and they did, sharing puzzled looks. Once gathered, she looked nervously around to make sure they were alone.

"Bri, say something." Jill said wearily, slightly annoyed by her friend's secrecy. Her entire head was throbbing, causing her normally admirable patience to wear thin.

"Sorry, just a little paranoid." Sabrina excused herself. She looked around once more.

"Bri!" Jill snapped, annoyance clearly evident in her voice. Kelly put a calming hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry!" Sabrina whispered, holding out her hands to placate her irritated friend.

"Ok, look. Peralta's pocket watch is inside." she informed Bosley and Jill. "I know it's his watch and the only reason for it be in there-"

"And broken." Kelly chimed in.

Sabrina nodded. "-and broken, is that he had something to do with Moretti's disappearance. Murder probably, from what it looks like. And if he killed Moretti, there's a good chance he killed Lisa too."

Jill's crankiness vanished at this new revelation.

"Well, let's tell the cops. They can take him down." she said quickly. This case couldn't be over with soon enough for her.

Sabrina shook her head.

"I don't think we should tell them. If they're able to arrest Peralta, we might never find out what happened to Moretti or why he killed Lisa. Or what she was going to tell us, or anything that we've been trying to find out the past few weeks."

Jill sighed, realizing she was right.

"And we still need to link him with the drug deal. They might cancel the drop if he gets caught too soon and all of those thugs will scatter to the winds and start their business somewhere else." Kelly added.

Sabrina nodded. "Yeah, exactly."

"So what do you want to do?" Bosley asked.

"What Charlie figured we'd have to do." Sabrina started. "Get a confession. Trick him into it somehow."

She turned to Kelly.

"Will he be there at the drug deal?" she asked.

Kelly ran her tongue along the inside of her mouth as she thought about Sabrina's question.

"I think he will, but I'm not sure, Bri." she answered finally. "He hasn't shown up before, but he seems like the kind of guy to flaunt his power. I wouldn't be surprised if he shows up."

Sabrina nodded, as the wheels in her head spun quickly, trying to formulate a plan.

"How long do we have until that all goes down?" she asked Kelly.

"Tomorrow night." Kelly answered. "I was planning on dropping an anonymous tip to the cops tomorrow so they'd show up right when things are getting started and everyone is there."

"Do you think you could get a confession out of him?" Sabrina asked, staring hard at her friend.

Kelly looked between Bosley and Jill before answering. The original plan was for her to not show up at the final drop to be safe in case a gun battle broke out between the mobsters and the police. If she was going to get a confession out of him, she would have to be there and take that risk.

Better her than her two friends though, she thought to herself.

"Maybe. If he shows up. We'd have to have the cops lie low and give me a chance, though. It wouldn't do any good for him to confess in a pack of drug dealers and murderers. Do you think you can arrange that, Boz?" she said doubtfully.

Bosley laughed.

"Of course not." he said with a grin. "But Charlie could."

Jill scratched her head.

"Bri, this all depends on a lot of maybes." she started. "What if Peralta doesn't show up at the auction. What if Kelly can't get a confession out of him. What if the cops come too soon or too late?"

Kelly bit her lip. "She's right, Bri. We'd have to make sure every piece of the puzzle comes together."

Sabrina looked around thoughtfully.

"Then we will. We'll tell L.A.P.D. what we're up to and have them back us up."

Jill nodded. "It's the best we've got. Will they go along with us?"

"Charlie can try to convince them. It would have to be on our terms, though. We're the ones taking the risk." Bosley offered.

Sabrina shrugged. "We're helping them take down a murderer and a drug kingpin, plus his flunkies. I don't see why not."

She realized suddenly how dangerous this could be for Kelly if something went wrong. Her enthusiasm instantly vanished. She could never forgive herself if she got one of her friends hurt or killed.

"Wait, let's not do anything just yet. Kell, it's your call. You're going to be the one in danger, here." she said softly.

"Doesn't matter. Let's do it." Kelly blurted out without hesitation.

Her eagerness to be put in harm's way was met with disturbed looks from her companions.

Jill laughed derisively. "You do have a family that will miss you if you get yourself killed, ya know. Try to remember that before you go throwing yourself in front of any bullets."

Embarrassed, Kelly lowered her eyes and nodded slightly. She gently nudged Jill with her elbow. "I'll be careful."

"Please do, Kell. If you want out just say so, no one will blame you." Sabrina added sincerely. "Are you going there tonight?"

Kelly nodded and checked her watch. "Yeah, at midnight."

Jill made a face. "Kell, you've been taking care of me all day. Have you slept at all?"

Kelly waved her hand dismissively. "I'm fine." she answered, purposely avoiding an answer.

Sabrina, Jill, and Bosley looked at her doubtfully.

"It's almost over, right?" Kelly said with a grin. "One more day. And then I'm going to sleep for a week."

Bosley shook his head in amusement. "A whole week? Can you afford that cut in pay?" he joked.

Kelly looked wounded.

"Bosley! You wouldn't!" she wailed, playfully swatting his arm.

Bosley chuckled. "I'm sure Charlie can work something out."

Sabrina and Jill laughed when Kelly made a face.

"Ok, it's nine thirty. I think we need to call it a night." Sabrina announced.

She looked at Jill and Kelly.

"Why don't you both come home with me? Kell, you can take a nap before you have to go to the shipyard tonight."

Kelly shrugged. "Sounds good. Thanks, Bri." she said casually, trying to mask how eager she was to get some sleep.

"And I suppose I still require a babysitter?" Jill asked, with her eyebrow raised. She regretted it immediately.

She had really opened the flood gates with that comment. Sabrina and Kelly's eyes lit up and they opened their mouth to say something smart.

Jill quickly threw her hands up and raised her voice to cut them off. "No! No, don't say anything! Ok, I'll go with you, Bri."

The girls looked disappointed.

"Oh Jill, you can't lob us a slow ball like that and expect us not to hit it out of the park." Sabrina sighed.

Jill glared at her. "I got my face bashed in. Be nice to me."

The girls and Bosley chuckled at her joke.

"Well, if you girls are off, then so am I. Get some rest, you three." Bosley said, walking towards his car. They bid him farewell and headed towards Sabrina's car.

The girls piled into the car and began to slowly drive away. They were surprised when they noticed Bosley chasing them, waving his arms frantically to flag them down.

Jill suddenly realized why and burst into laughter. Still confused, Sabrina rolled down her window.

"What's wrong, Boz?" she asked.

Bosley leaned against the door to catch his breath.

"Moretti drove my car here and now it's apparently exhibit B right now. Can you give me a lift?" he asked sheepishly.

Sabrina and Kelly laughed.

"Sure thing, Boz. Hop in." Sabrina said through her giggles.

Bosley climbed in and took a seat next to Jill in the backseat. He gave her a sanctimonious look.

"What are you laughing at?"

"I would think that would be obvious." Jill shot back. She looked up at Kelly and Sabrina who were giving her and Bosley an amused look.

"We took a cab here. Bosley forgot." Jill explained.

Bosley sighed and shook his head.

An hour later, Bosley had been delivered home, and the three girls were safely in Sabrina's apartment.

Sabrina looked at her watch.

11:15

In fifteen minutes, she would wake Kelly, who was sleeping peacefully in her bedroom. She looked down at Jill, who had fallen asleep on the couch with her head in her lap.

Kelly had gone to bed as soon as they arrived at her place, declining to even stop and eat something first. Sabrina had made Jill and herself a sandwich and the two played cards for half an hour, before turning on the television and lounging on the couch. Jill had fallen asleep almost immediately and Sabrina didn't have the heart to disturb her by getting up.

Sabrina sighed as she watched Jill sleep. She felt guilty that Jill had gotten hurt. Her two friends were having a much tougher time with this case than she was, she thought to herself. It was killing her to see Kelly dragging herself through the day, exhausted to the point that it was affecting her health, but refusing to complain. Then poor Jill had been hurt. Sabrina shuddered as she remembered seeing her best friend lying on the ground, her face covered in blood. She had been so scared and so angry at the same time. It was a horrible, sickening feeling.

Maybe it was good that she hadn't caught the man that attacked Jill. She didn't yet know Jill's condition at that time and she wasn't sure what she would have done to him.

And now, her crazy plan might end up getting Kelly hurt. Or killed. She wished she could switch places with her. How would she live with herself with the knowledge that her idea had gotten her best friend killed? She was still bothered by the way Kelly volunteered without any second thoughts to her own well being. Her friend could be reckless at times, as if she had nothing to lose.

They would have a talk later.

Jill sighed contentedly in her sleep, the soft sound bringing Sabrina out of her troubling thoughts. Sabrina quickly jerked her arm up to check her watch, afraid that she had let Kelly oversleep.

11:28

Sabrina sighed, deciding that it was time to get up and wake Kelly. She slipped her hand under Jill's head and carefully eased her up until she was able to get up from her seat. She grabbed a pillow and gently lowered Jill's head onto it.

Jill continued sleeping, completely unaffected.

Sabrina almost laughed at loud. Her carefulness had been wasted. She could have probably drop kicked Jill across the room and she wouldn't have woken up. She herself was a sound sleeper, but Jill slept like a rock.

Still grinning to herself, she pulled a blanket over Jill, kissed her forehead, and headed to her room to wake up Kelly. She left the light off as she went inside, not wanting to blind her when she woke up.

She frowned as she approached her sleeping friend. Kelly was whimpering and fidgeting in her sleep, suffering through another nightmare.

Sabrina sighed. Kelly used to have horrible nightmares nearly every night when they first met, a physcological scar leftover from her violent childhood. Now, she knew she only had them when she was overly stressed. Sabrina felt another pang of guilt. Kelly hadn't been sleeping much, the last thing she needed was a nightmare to disturb what little rest she got.

Sabrina placed a hand on Kelly's arm.

"Kell?" she said gently. She waited for her to respond but Kelly didn't wake up.

Sabrina frowned again. Unlike Jill, Kelly was an unusually light sleeper and normally would have woken up with that minimal effort alone.

She tried again. "Kell. Wake up." she said, a little louder.

Kelly stirred, but stayed sleeping.

Sabrina reached over and shook her friend's shoulder. Kelly's eyes flew open and she jerked away from Sabrina in alarm. Her eyes darted around the room frantically for a few moments and then she relaxed, realizing where she was.

Sabrina knew better than to ask what she had been dreaming about.

"Time for school!" she sang with a grin.

Kelly rubbed her eyes and nodded her head. "Can't wait." she muttered, her voice thick with sleep. She got up and groggily followed Sabrina into the living room, squinting against the overhead light.

Sabrina watched her pull on her sneakers, her eyes still half shut against the light.

"You sure you don't want something to eat before you go?" she asked her.

Kelly shook her head. "No, thanks." She lifted her head and looked around. "Where's Jill?" she asked.

Sabrina laughed and pointed to the couch, where Jill lay out of Kelly's sight. "She's asleep."

Kelly nodded and reached up to pull back her hair. "Is she alright?"

"Yeah, just tired. It's been a long day for her and her nose."

Kelly giggled. "True. Why are we whispering? A hurricane could hit and Jill wouldn't wake up."

Sabrina smiled as she poured Kelly a cup of coffee. "That's all we need." she laughed. She thrust the steaming mug towards Kelly. "Here, so you don't run yourself into a ditch."

"Thanks, Bri." Kelly said, taking a grateful sip of the hot liquid. She pulled her jacket off of the chair where she had thrown it and got up to leave. "Maybe I'll get a raise today." she joked as she headed out the door.

Sabrina laughed. "Go get 'em tiger." Kelly grinned at her and left the apartment.

Sabrina locked her door and turned to look around her quiet apartment. She checked on Jill again, before getting ready for bed herself. She thought about waking Jill and letting her have the bed, then decided against it.

It would take ten minutes to wake her and Jill looked too peaceful and content to be disturbed.

Sabrina crawled into her bed, noticing it was still warm where Kelly had been sleeping a few minutes ago. She felt another stab of guilt that she was getting to sleep while Kelly was up in the middle of the night doing God knows what with dangerous criminals.

Two days from now this will all be over, she told herself.

She just hoped everything would be alright when it was.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Kelly thankfully climbed the last of the stairs to Sabrina's apartment, feeling her legs continue to burn even as she walked the short distance down the hallway to Sabrina's door. Her head throbbed constantly and her eyes stung from sleep deprivation. It seemed a huge effort to even dig into her purse for her keys.

The girls all kept copies of each others house and car keys in case of emergency. Kelly was glad she didn't have to stand and wait for someone to answer. She keyed open the door and walked inside. The tantalizing aroma of eggs and coffee filled the room and she could hear the popping and sizzling of bacon cooking.

Jill was awake.

"Hey, Kell!" Jill called, popping her head into the living room.

"Hey, Jill. How are you feeling?"

"Much better. Amazing what a good night's sleep will do." Jill answered with a grin. She immediately realized the insensitivity of her comment and bit her lip.

Kelly laughed bitterly. "I can only imagine."

Jill gave Kelly a sympathetic look. "Sorry, Kell. Mental filter." she apologized. "Look, eat something and then go to sleep, you don't have anything to do today."

She spooned some eggs and bacon onto a plate and placed it on the table.

"Thanks, Jill." Kelly said softly. She slumped into a kitchen chair. Jill plopped down next to her after heaping breakfast onto her own plate.

Kelly suddenly realized she had no appetite. She ate a few bites and stared down into her plate as if in a trance.

Jill watched her with concern. "You ok?"

Kelly, completely oblivious to her question, stared at her eggs.

"Hey, Kell?" Jill called, waving her hand in front of Kelly's face. Kelly jerked her head up.

"Sorry."

Jill smiled at her. "Bri should be getting up now. She's driving me back home on her way to work. Come with us and I'll take you home."

Kelly nodded wearily.

Both girls turned as Sabrina bustled into the room, dressed for the day in a light green business pantsuit.

"Morning, girls." she greeted them. She served herself some breakfast and sat down at the table.

"Anything happen last night?" she asked Kelly.

"Nothing important. That was the last shipment, though. Tonight is when it all goes down."

Sabrina nodded. "Good. I'm sure you'll be glad to get this over with. I know I am." she said. "Will you be able to rest before tonight?" she asked Kelly with concern.

Kelly nodded her head as she listlessly stirred her food around on her plate.

Jill suddenly looked thoughtful. "You know how you forget stuff if you haven't done it in awhile? Wouldn't it be weird if you forgot how to sleep?"

Kelly and Sabrina stared at her.

When it became obvious that she wasn't going to get anything more than baffled looks from her two friends she sighed. "I know. Shut up, Jill."

Kelly nodded her head and turned to Sabrina. "One more night. Can't wait."

"Me too." Jill added.

Their breakfast was interrupted by the phone. The girls looked at it then looked back at each other and as was their custom, immediately smacked their fist into their open palms three times. As usual, Kelly was the odd one out, having abandoned her lucky two for a one for the first time in weeks. She sighed and pushed out her chair to get up, but before she could, Sabrina sprang from her seat, caught Kelly's chair and pushed it back in, giving her tired friend a smile of pity. Sabrina made her way into the living room and picked up the phone in the middle of its fourth ring.

"Hello?" she said.

"Good morning, Sabrina." Bosley's voice answered her.

"Morning, Boz, what's up."

"Is Kelly back with your car yet?" he asked.

"Yeah, she just got back. What's going on?"

"Good. You girls come down to the office before you head off to work. There's two guys here from L.A.P.D. They're going to help us out tonight. They want to talk to you three."

"Alright, Boz. We'll be there in twenty minutes."

She hung up the phone and walked back into the kitchen.

"Quick morning detour. Boz wants us in the office to talk to L.A.P.D. about tonight. I'll take you home after that, ok Jill?"

Jill swallowed the food in her mouth before answering. "Kelly too. And once we get to my car, I'll take you home, Kell."

"I feel like a ping pong ball." Kelly remarked sardonically.

* * *

Half an hour later, the three girls walked into the office where Bosley was waiting with two other men. The two men raised their eyebrows as they entered. Kelly and Jill instantly realized why. They weren't dressed very professionally. Kelly was still in a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers from the previous night and Jill's clothes were sadly wrinkled. She had borrowed pajamas from Sabrina and had planned to go home, shower, and change clothes before seeing anyone in the morning.

Ignoring their appearance, the girls politely greeted the two policemen and took a seat on the couch opposite from them. Both men gave Jill a strange look and she blushed, very much aware that her face was still puffy and the bruise that encompassed the bridge of her nose and both eyes had taken on a darker shade of purple since yesterday. Bosley walked by with a tray of coffee for them.

"I thought you said twenty minutes." he whispered through his teeth as he set down the tray in front of them.

"I'm sorry, do you fly to work? This is L.A. Boz, the traffic was bad. Give us a break." Kelly fired back at him. Bosley gave her a cheerful smile to let her know he had been teasing. He patted her on the shoulder and stood up.

"Girls, this is Lieutenant Alan Michaels and Officer Clayton Summers. Lieutenant Michaels will be in charge of the group that is assigned to break up this illegal activity we've been following the past few weeks."

The girls nodded politely as they eyed the two men. Michaels was a well built, good looking man that looked to be in his mid to late thirties. He had a full head of reddish brown hair, and a matching mustache that gave him a gruff appearance. His body language and dark brown eyes appeared to be sizing up the girls, wondering if they were wasting his time. Officer Summers was several inches shorter than his companion, a thin, wiry man with curly brown hair. He was probably older than he looked, but his stature and lack of facial hair made him look to be in his late twenties. His polite smile put the girls at ease and made them want to communicate to him instead of his companion.

This was not to be.

Lieutenant Michaels cleared his throat and took over the conversation. "Yes. Your boss, Mr. Townsend called the station last night and explained the situation. I volunteered to lead a team. What I need from you is confirmation on what is supposed to happen tonight, if anything." he said.

Sabrina and Jill looked to Kelly. She looked back and realized that she was the only one who really knew what was going on.

"There have been constant shipments of cocaine from Bogota, Columbia over the past couple of weeks. The drugs get delivered to one of the old warehouses along the shipyard. Tonight at midnight, they're going to gather together a big group of high profile dealers in the area to sell it all off." she explained.

Michaels nodded his head slowly. "Who's in charge of the operation?"

Kelly shook her head. "We think it's Arturo Peralta, but we haven't had concrete evidence yet. We're hoping he'll show up tonight and incriminate himself."

Michaels raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Peralta? Really?"

Jill cocked her head. "Does that surprise you?"

"A little, yes. There's been suspicions before but never on anything this big time."

"We also think we might be able to link him to a series of murders." Sabrina added. "Possibly the murder of our former client."

Michaels nodded. "Yes, I heard. I was there last night."

"Drug dealing, organized crime, and murder." Officer Summers commented. "Sounds like quite the guy."

Sabrina smiled wryly at Summers. "Oh, he's quite a guy alright."

Summers chuckled softly. He seemed much more easy going and friendly than the lieutenant.

Michaels gave Summers an annoyed look and then turned back to the girls.

"So we'll show up at midnight and arrest the bunch of them, then."

The girls looked at each other uneasily.

Jill cleared her throat. "Well, if he shows up, we have a pretty solid case against him on drug possession and selling. But, with the murders-" she paused for a moment. "We have next to nothing. We want a confession on both. That would really guarantee that he gets put away. "

"We can get one out of him once he's in custody." Summers suggested.

Bosley shook his head. "Well the problem with that is that the guy is so well connected, he might be able to get out of a drug charge and even a murder charge. He has several higher ups in his pocket already. Maybe even a judge and some of the police. If we have a confession, it'll be much harder to contest in court."

Michaels scoffed, obviously used to being the one in charge. "And how do you propose to do that?"

"Let us worry about that. We'd just like you to be on standby. Once we get our confession your men can move in and arrest them."

The two policemen looked at each other.

"It could work. Can I ask you where you got this information?" Michaels asked.

"We've been monitoring him closely." Kelly answered evasively.

Michaels stared hard at her for moment and then nodded his head. "Fine. Sounds like a solid tip. We'll be out there at 11:30 tonight. What warehouse is it?"

Kelly tilted her head and thought hard for a moment, the big number painted on the wall escaping her exhausted mind for a moment. "Fifty nine." she answered finally.

"Alright, I'll get together a team to look into it." He looked towards Bosley. "You will let me know if anything changes?"

"Yes, sir." Bosley agreed good naturedly.

"Well, ladies, pleased to be working with you. We'll see you at midnight." Michaels said, with a curt head nod. He rose from his seat and clapped Summers on the shoulder. The younger man had been staring dreamily at Jill, and started at the contact. He quickly rose to his feet and followed his companion out the door.

The girls and Bosley watched as the door closed behind them.

Jill sighed. "I don't think he takes us seriously."

"Why do you say that?" Bosley asked, furrowing his brow.

"He didn't ask for a signal to let his team know when to move in."

Sabrina, Kelly, and Bosley took this in with interest.

"Maybe it slipped his mind?" Sabrina offered.

"I'll call him later on and we'll figure something out." Bosley said.

Sabrina sighed and rubbed her hands together. "Well, I have to be at work in ten minutes. You girls ready?"

Kelly and Jill stood and followed Sabrina out the door.

* * *

After dropping off Jill and Kelly, Sabrina drove to work. She arrived fifteen minutes after eight and walked straight to her office and shut the door. She wasn't in the mood to deal with Peralta and his unappreciated advances today.

She nervously paced her office, going through every step of the night's plan. It all depended on Peralta showing up. They had yet to have solid evidence of his involvement, save the pocket watch she had found. Though they were fairly sure he was the one in charge, their entire plan could fall through if he didn't show up tonight.

The hours ticked by as painfully slow as they could. Sabrina felt like she was losing her mind. She turned in the paperwork Charlie's connection had done for her and sat in her office pretending to work. When it neared ten, she stepped out of her office, needing to walk around to relieve some nervous energy.

She walked briskly towards the break room. As she rounded the corner into the it's hallway, she was pleased to see Tom Kessler approaching from the opposite direction.

"Hey, Sabrina." he greeted her warmly.

"Hi." she answered back pleasantly. She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, but she didn't want to be rude. He was such a nice guy.

"You need a cup of coffee already?" he said with a grin.

Sabrina laughed. "Well I gotta keep alert. Don't want to misplace a decimal or something."

Tom smiled. "I was just about to get one myself. Now I don't have to drink alone." he joked.

Sabrina felt herself blush. He was casually flirting with her and it was much more appreciated than Peralta. She followed Tom to the break room. As they walked, she noticed that he had an armful of documents.

He had probably been on his way somewhere else when he ran into her. Not that she minded his sudden change of plan. It would be a nice way to pass the time.

The two chatted for ten minutes over a cup of coffee. Deciding that they needed to get back to work before they were missed, they got up and headed for the door.

"So, do you have any plans after work?" Tom asked casually, as they left the break room.

Sabrina almost laughed. She most definitely had plans.

"Yeah, actually I do." she said regretfully.

Tom nodded. "Well, what about for lunch?"

Sabrina tilted her head thoughtfully. She was about to politely decline when she felt herself suddenly slammed backwards. She only caught a flash of black and red from the unidentified person who had just run into her as she teetered backwards. She flailed wildly trying to catch her balance. A strong hand reached out and grabbed her arm, preventing her from falling.

Irritated, Sabrina steadied herself and looked around to see who had run into her. She was surprised to see Peralta himself, standing in front of her, one hand on the wall for support.

"I'm terribly sorry, Ms. Duncan." he breathed.

Sabrina studied him closely. He looked nervous and agitated. And he was obviously in such a hurry to get somewhere that he hadn't bothered to check if anyone was coming down the hallway.

"It's ok, Art." she said quickly.

He nodded to her and started down the hallway again.

Tom released Sabrina's arm and waved his file over his head. "Mr. Peralta, I was just on my way to bring this for you to sign. Would you mind, sir?" he called out.

Peralta halted and looked over his shoulder, obviously irritated at the continued interruption.

"Kessler, there's a message for you on your desk." he said quickly.

Tom nodded. "Thanks, sir." He held up his forms. "What should I-?" he trailed off waiting for Peralta to give him an answer.

"Just leave them on my desk, I'll sign them later." he snapped. Without another word, he bustled down the hallway, towards the stairs.

Tom frowned.

"What's wrong with him today?"

Sabrina stared at Peralta's retreating form. Where was he rushing off to? She felt uneasy about this. She had to follow him.

"Where are you going?"

Sabrina paused, remembering Tom. She turned around, a pained expression on her face.

"Hey, I gotta take care of something real quick. Lunch another day?"

Tom looked wounded.

"Yeah, another day. See you later." he said, slightly confused by her seemingly erratic behavior.

Sabrina gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile before following Peralta's path. Once she cleared Tom's line of sight, she broke into a jog. She had to get to her car and call Jill.

Sabrina ran down the stairwell and out the back door into the parking lot. She could just see Peralta's car pulling out of its parking space. She ran to her car, started it and gave chase, catching up to Peralta within a few minutes.

While she drove, she dialed Jill's car extension. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel impatiently as she waited for her to pick up.

"Jill Munroe." Jill finally answered.

"Jill!" Sabrina started breathlessly. "Peralta is off somewhere. He looked real nervous. I'm following him now. Where are you?"

Jill was silent for a moment as she absorbed her information.

"I'm on Ocean Park and I-10 headed east. Where are you?"

"I'm on West 3rd street going west. I have a feeling he's headed to the shipyards. Can you meet me there? If he changes directions, I'll let you know."

Jill's voice grew distant as if she had moved her mouth away from the phone.

"Sorry, Kell. We're taking a detour." she heard Jill say. Her voice came back clearer. "On our way, Bri."

She hung up.

Sabrina frowned. Kelly was still with her? She was supposed to be at home asleep.

She shrugged it off and focused on following Peralta.

The man was weaving in and out of traffic as he sped along, anxious to get to wherever it was he was going. As they drove, Sabrina became more and more confident that he was headed towards the shipyards. She began to get excited. Maybe he would incriminate himself now and Kelly wouldn't have to get anything out of him tonight. She gripped the steering wheel tighter in anticipation.

She was startled when her phone suddenly rang. It was probably Jill.

"Sabrina Duncan." she answered quickly.

"Bri, I think you're right. There's some people here already. Me and Kell are going to spy on them. When you get here park in the alley behind the building. We'll be waiting."

"Got it."

She dropped the phone and continued following Peralta. He barely made the next light and Sabrina sighed in frustration as she was forced to stop. She fidgeted anxiously in her seat, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel and willing the light to change as quickly as possible. When it did, she lurched forward as quickly as she could.

Luck was not with her for the next few lights. By the third light she was stopped at, she felt like she was going to burst with frustration. She hoped that he really was going to the shipyards, because that's where she was headed.

Ten minutes later, she caught sight of his car and breathed a sigh of relief. As she had suspected, he made the turn into the shipyards. Sabrina followed, keeping far enough behind him that he wouldn't notice.

From the way he was driving though, she doubted he would.

She watched Peralta screech to a halt and jump out of his car. He rushed up the narrow staircase and banged on the door. It opened and he disappeared inside.

Sabrina eased her car carefully into the alley behind the warehouse. Jill's car was parked behind a dumpster. Sabrina parked and jogged over to the Cobra. Jill and Kelly were inside. They climbed out of the car when they saw Sabrina approaching.

"Bri, you can hear everything from under the building." Kelly said tersely, leading the way. Sabrina and Jill followed her around the staircase. The building, like most in the area, was on stilts, the thick wooden poles that held it up providing support to the structure and doubling as tie offs for small boats. The girls walked underneath the building and strained their ears to hear.

They didn't have to try hard.

"How did you let this happen?" they heard an enraged male voice yell. They could hear his footsteps pacing along the floor above them.

"Peralta" Sabrina mouthed.

"How was I supposed to know he would do something this stupid? I took care of it, didn't I?" another voice answered back defensively. Kelly recognized his voice as Fred's. She informed her friends.

"Did you?" Peralta shouted sarcastically. "Was he working with the other two kids?"

Kelly got a sickening feeling. One of her teenage cohorts had done something very foolish. She had a feeling he wouldn't be repeating his action.

"How the hell should I know? Probably not, I didn't see them here. Just him." Fred answered.

Peralta sighed loudly in frustration.

"Clean up, I don't want anything going wrong tonight. Did anyone know he was here?"

"No." Fred replied simply.

Peralta cursed loudly and began to pace again. Kelly grew impatient. She backed away from her friends.

"Something happened." she whispered to Sabrina and Jill. "I have to see what's going on."

She turned and jogged out from under the building and around the exterior, looking for the side door. She found it and pushed against it.

It was locked.

Muttering a curse under her breath, she pulled away and stood back, scanning the building for a way inside. Sabrina and Jill stopped short by her side.

Kelly spotted a grimy, filth encrusted window and ran towards it. It was about a foot above her head. She turned to Sabrina and Jill for help.

Without a word, Sabrina dropped to one knee. Jill steadied her while Kelly put her foot on Sabrina's bended leg and hoisted herself up. With the additional height, her eyes were just level with the window. She peeked inside.

She had been right about something being wrong. Christian was lying dead in the middle of the room in a pool of blood. He had probably been shot. Had he snuck in to steal some of the merchandise? The poor kid obviously didn't realize the kind of people he was dealing with.

Kelly felt a pang of sadness. He wouldn't get a second chance. She tensed as Fred, Peralta, and another man she had never seen before walked into her sight.

She turned and looked down at her friends.

"Jill! Give me your camera!" she whispered excitedly. Jill dug in her purse and handed it to her.

Kelly turned the flash off and snapped a few pictures of the men together with Christian's body.

If catching him at the drop tonight wasn't enough to put him away, this would definitely seal the deal.

Once satisfied, she dropped back to the ground.

"We got him." she said with a triumphant grin.

"I sure hope so." Sabrina said as she started backing away from the warehouse. "Let's get out of here before someone sees us."

The girls quickly snuck back to the alley where their vehicles were waiting for them. Not wanting to stay any longer, they drove to the parking lot of a nearby office building to talk.

"You think this will change anything, Kell?" Sabrina asked, once they were safely away from the warehouse.

Kelly shrugged. "I'm not sure exactly. Fred will call if there's a change in plan."

She leaned on Jill's car and yawned.

"I'll call Lieutenant Michaels and tell him what we saw." Jill said.

Sabrina nodded. "Ok. I'm going to get back to work before anyone notices I'm missing. I get off at five. Let's meet at the office at five thirty. We'll compare notes and get everything ready."

Jill nodded her agreement.

Kelly stared absently off to her left.

Noticing her lack of attention, Sabrina waved her hand in front of her friend's face. "Kell?"

Kelly snapped her head around. "What?" she asked, completely at sea.

Sabrina gave her an understanding smile. "Meet at the office at five thirty, ok?"

Kelly nodded.

"Ok, I think we've kept you up long enough. Let's get you home." Jill said, linking her arm through Kelly's and leading her to the passenger's door. Kelly went without protest.

"See you guys at five thirty." Sabrina called as she got into her car.

Jill watched her drive away and drove off in the opposite direction.

"I'm gonna see if I can get this film developed today." Jill said out loud as she drove, more to herself than to Kelly.

Kelly turned and looked at her. "Where?"

Jill shrugged. "Remember Jack, the ice cream guy? He's an amateur photographer. He's got a lab and I think he'll let me borrow it."

Kelly stared blankly at Jill

"His name is Jack?" she echoed unbelievably, ignoring the rest of Jill's previous statement.

Jill giggled and nodded. Kelly was delighted.

"Jill, please marry him."

Jill burst into laughter and shoved her friend playfully.

"I don't think I could stand the teasing." she said with a grin.

Kelly looked thoughtfully at her friend and let her imagination run wild with all of the possibilities of such a union. She suddenly burst into a fit of hysterical giggles.

Jill shook her head at Kelly's delirious laughter.

"You need to go home and go to bed, young lady." she said.

Kelly wiped her eyes. She agreed wholeheartedly.

* * *

The dark figure watched the three women talk briefly in the parking lot before driving away. He had followed them from the alley. The three women had been spying on them. He watched them closer, trying to decide if they were a threat.

He suddenly recognized the slim brunette. She was one of the teens that Fred had recruited to help them.

This initially confused him. Why would a punk kid like her be talking to two young women? As he watched her interact with the two other girls, he began to grit his teeth with fury as he realized what was going on. She was no kid. He clenched his fist tightly by his sides. She had been playing them. He felt stupid for having been fooled.

The three women were obviously working together. But for what? He had seen the brunette snapping pictures. Where they all some kind of cops? Blackmailers?

It didn't matter. The girl had been lying to them and if she had any damning evidence of illegal activity with her, then she couldn't be allowed to live. Or her friends.

He smiled to himself as he took down the license plate numbers of both cars. He would get the "kid" over here as soon as possible and have her taken care of.

But first he would deal with her friends.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Sabrina had just stepped into her office when the phone rang.

"Sabrina Duncan." she answered.

"Bri, it's Jill. I just dropped off Kelly and now I'm going to get this film developed. Let's meet for lunch, I think I'll have it ready by then."

"Sounds good, Jill. 1:30 alright?"

"Perfect."

Sabrina hung up the phone and looked at the clock. It was eleven thirty.

How was she going to kill two more hours?

She paced up and down her office.

After a few minutes, she decided that pacing was doing nothing to ease her anxiousness. She was about to sit at her desk and jot down some notes when there was a soft knock on her door. Sabrina frowned, hoping it wouldn't be Peralta.

"Come in." she said quickly.

The door opened to reveal Tom's handsome face.

"Hey, just stopping by and decided to visit you." he started. "Can I come in?"

Sabrina smiled at him. "Sure, sure. Come on in."

Tom slipped inside and took a seat in front of her desk.

"Hey, sorry if I came on a little strong earlier. I didn't mean to chase you off like that."

Sabrina looked baffled for a moment and then realized what he was talking about. She had run off after Peralta and left him standing there right after he had asked her to a lunch date. That must have looked really bad.

"No, it wasn't you. I just remembered something I had to take care of." she explained quickly. Her excuse sounded fake to her ears, she could only imagine what Tom was thinking.

Tom nodded his head. "Oh, I see. Anyway, I just wanted to come and apologize because I felt like a real heel for putting you on the spot like that."

Sabrina sighed to herself. She hadn't wanted to hurt his feelings. She liked him.

"Well, don't feel bad. How about I let you buy me lunch sometime to make up for it." she joked, trying to salvage what she could of the situation.

Tom grinned at her, obviously relieved.

"What about today?" he asked hopefully.

Sabrina cursed to herself. Today wouldn't work. Damn you, Peralta.

"Sorry, I have lunch plans today. Maybe another day?"

Tom smiled, believing himself to have been blown off again.

"Sure, just let me know." he said good naturedly. He looked at his watch. "Well, I better get back to work. See you around." he said. He gave her an understanding smile and left her office.

Once her door was closed, Sabrina dropped her head down on her desk. Oh well, she thought to herself, there would be other, more convenient guys.  
_______________________________________________________________________________

Kelly wearily pried her heavy eyelids open. She lay in confusion for a moment, wondering what had woken her.

The phone rang again, solving the mystery.

Kelly moaned. Was it already 4:30? She looked up at her alarm clock and squinted.

1:12

Why couldn't anyone just let her sleep?

She pushed herself up and groped blindly around her nightstand for the phone, knocking down the water glass that Jill had placed there earlier. Kelly cursed softly as she watched the water soak through her carpet in a dark spreading stain. The phone was still jangling loudly, making her head feel like it was going to split in two. She finally managed to pick it up.

"Hello?" she answered groggily into the wrong end of the phone. She realized her mistake, flipped it over and repeated herself.

"Kelly. Change of plan. I need you here. Come to the shack. Now." she heard Fred's voice snap at her. He hung up.

Kelly held the phone out and rested her head back on her pillow in disbelief. She hadn't been able to sleep very long. She felt like crying, she was so exhausted.

Her body screamed its protest as she sat up in bed, her head spinning with lack of sleep. She picked up the water glass that was on the floor. Jill must have left it after she had fallen asleep. She didn't even remember falling asleep after Jill had followed her inside and tucked her in. She must have been out immediately.

Grumbling to herself, she pulled on her jacket and shoes and staggered into the kitchen. There was a note taped on her counter in Jill's large loopy handwriting.

LUNCH FOR YOU IN THE FRIDGE IF YOU EVER WAKE UP.  
LOVE, JILL

Kelly read the note, a puzzled look on her face. She opened the fridge and noticed a bowl covered with foil. She smiled to herself. Jill was so thoughtful. Looking around, she noticed her kitchen and living room had been cleaned. Touched, she set the note down on the counter and made a mental note to thank Jill the next time she saw her.

She plopped a few spoonfuls of the chicken salad Jill had made her onto a slice of bread and headed out the door.  
__________________________________________________________________________________

At 1:15 Sabrina locked her office door and walked briskly out of the building and to her car. To her surprise, Jill was parked beside her.

"Hey!" she greeted breathlessly. "Take a look at these pictures."

Sabrina looked them over. They were damning indeed. Of course, he probably hadn't killed the kid himself. But it certainly wouldn't help him when he went to trial.

"Nice. Let's see him try to talk his way out of this." she said as she flipped through them.

She suddenly froze, her eyes wide open in shock.

"What?" Jill asked, looking over Sabrina's shoulder.

"That's Tom." Sabrina said in disbelief. "I work with him. He was with me right before I left. How the hell did he get there so fast?"

She thought for a moment. Peralta, even in his hurry hadn't taken the most direct route to the shipyards and she had gotten stuck at several lights. It was possible. The fact that Peralta had told Tom about a message suddenly jumped out at her, a glaringly obvious give away now that she knew the truth. That must have been his way of informing him.

She shook her head, completely blown away by Tom's involvement. He hadn't seemed at all suspicious.

"That guy?" Jill asked, pointing at him.

"Yeah, that's him."

"He's cute." Jill remarked casually. "I imagine he'll be popular in prison."

"I imagine so." Sabrina said slowly, still staring at his face. She shook her head and handed Jill the pictures.

Jill tucked them into her purse and started to get into Sabrina's car.

"C'mon. I'm hungry and you're driving." She settled herself in the passenger seat, buckled her seatbelt and looked impatiently at Sabrina.

Sabrina chuckled to herself and shook her head as she got in and started the car.

The two girls enjoyed a quiet lunch in a nearby cafe. They were tense and anxious about what would happen in a few hours and went over the plan a few times together. After eating, they left the restaurant and headed back to Sabrina's office. It was only 2:20. They still had some time to kill before meeting at the office.

Sabrina pulled into the spot next to Jill's car to let her out.

"So, I'll see you later then.' Jill said, getting out of the car.

Sabrina nodded. "Oh hey, how's Kelly doing?" she asked.

Jill laughed.

"I took her home and put her to bed. Poor kid was asleep before her head hit the pillow. I need to call her around 4:30 to wake her up for our meeting."

She tilted her head and looked at Sabrina.

"Hey, remind me to call her. You know how I forget."

Sabrina laughed. "Oh, trust me I kn-"

Her words were cut off with a shriek as a hail of bullets sprayed around them, shattering the peaceful quiet of their surroundings and pinging loudly against the metal of her car. She felt someone yank her to the ground.

"Bri!" she heard Jill scream in terror.

Jill had tackled her to the ground and was now dragging her behind the car. Sabrina recovered from her shock and scrambled to safety as bullets whizzed by, ricocheting off of the ground.

The two girls huddled together behind Sabrina's car, their arms instinctively thrown over their heads for protection.

After a moment the barrage of bullets stopped. The two girls heard the screeching of tires.

Sabrina lunged from behind the car, needing to see who had been shooting at them.

She saw a sleek, black car speeding away from them, tires squealing as it turned a sharp corner and disappeared from sight.

She turned back towards Jill, who still lay on the ground with her arms over her head.

"Jill!" she called to her, her voice shrill and frightened. "Are you alright?"

Jill lifted her arms and sat up, her chest heaving up and down and her breathing ragged.

"Yeah." she breathed, still panting. "I'm ok. Are you?"

Sabrina took a deep breath to steady herself.

"I'm ok." she said shakily.

The two girls rose to their feet, dazed and shaken by the unexpected attack.

"Who was that?" Jill asked finally.

Sabrina rested her head on the roof of her bullet ridden vehicle.

"I don't know, Jill" she admitted softly. She turned to look at her friend and was alarmed to see her gingerly wiping blood off of her forearm.

"Jill, you're hit!" she cried, springing forward and grabbing her friend's arm.

Jill gave her a forced smile and gently pulled her arm away.

"No, I'm not. I scraped myself on the pavement. It's fine, Bri." she explained.

Sabrina sighed in relief.

Jill had already been hurt. She didn't need to be put through anything else. Her mind flashed back to the frightening scene at Lisa Conrad's apartment.

She suddenly froze.

"Bri? What's wrong?" Jill asked in a worried voice.

Sabrina turned, her face tight in alarm.

"Jill, that car. That's the same car I saw when we were at Lisa's place. The one that picked up that guy I was chasing." she gushed excitedly.

Jill's blue eyes widened in shock.

"He knows who we are."

Sabrina cursed to herself.

"Do you think this is coincidence, or did he see us at the shipyards."

Jill moaned in despair. "I don't know. We need to call Kelly and let her know what happened. She needs to be careful."

She jerked the car door open and dialed Kelly's house number on Sabrina's car phone.

Her stomach knotted with dread when Kelly didn't answer.

She looked back up at Sabrina, fear etched on her face.

"She was pretty tired. Maybe the phone didn't wake her up." Sabrina said without conviction.

"I'm going to go check on her." Jill said tersely. She quickly got in her car. "Bri, go inside and stay in your office," she ordered.

Sabrina nodded and watched her drive away, hoping with all she had that Kelly had just slept through their call.

* * *

Still shaken from her near death, Sabrina walked back toward her building. With trembling hands she pushed open the double doors and walked inside. She headed for her office, then decided she was far too jittery and anxious to sit at her desk and pretend to do paperwork.

Instead, she roamed the hallways, avoiding people the best she could. After a few minutes, she found herself inside the break room. She walked inside and paced around for a few minutes. Coffee would be of no help to her nerves.

She spotted a bowl of peppermints in the middle of one of the tables and walked over to take one. As she unwrapped the candy and popped it into her mouth, she heard footsteps right outside.

She turned and her stomach did a flip as Tom walked into the room.

"Sabrina." he greeted her.

Sabrina swallowed her candy.

"Tom, how are you?" she said lightly. She hoped her voice held no trace of suspicion.

Or fear.

He smiled at her. His behavior didn't reveal anything sinister.

"I was actually hoping you could help me with something." he said smoothly, eyeing her for a reaction.

Sabrina opened her mouth to reply and then realized she didn't know what to say. She stood there for a few awkward seconds.

"Help you with what?" she stammered finally.

"I need some financial expertise." he answered. "It won't take long."

Sabrina shrugged. "Well, alright."

Tom smiled and extended his arm, which Sabrina took reluctantly.

They walked out of the break room and down the hallway together. As they neared Tom's office, Sabrina drifted to the right, towards his door. To her surprise, Tom didn't follow her. She turned to him with a puzzled look on her face.

"Oh, not in my office. In the file room." he said casually.

Sabrina felt an icy chill run up the back of her neck. She had a very bad feeling about this. Did he know that they were on to him? Or was he trying to get her alone for other reasons. If he didn't know, she didn't want to risk raising his suspicions. She racked her mind, trying to remember where the file room was.

They walked down the back stairs together, Sabrina growing more and more terrified as she realized how isolated this file room was. All too soon, they approached the file room door. It was behind the staircase and no one would be able to hear her scream if something happened.

She panicked and decided for a direct approach.

"Look, Tom, I'm really not that kind of girl." she said uneasily, pushing away from him. He held her arm tightly.

"What are you talking about, Sabrina?" he said innocently. With his free hand, he keyed open the door and swung it open.

"Ok, I'm going to have to take a rain check." she said firmly. She jerked her arm away from him.

To her surprise, he grabbed her again and yanked her towards him, holding her tightly against his chest.

"Oh no, Sabrina. We need to talk." he growled into her ear. Before she could react, he spun her into the file room and slammed the door shut, sealing them both inside.

Sabrina rammed her elbow backwards and was delighted to hear Tom grunt in pain. She broke free from his grip and backpedaled away from him as fast as she could. Tom looked up, his face contorted in rage.

"Where are those pictures, Sabrina?" he seethed, righting himself. He began stalking towards her.

Sabrina backed away and cursed softly. They had been seen.

"Are you some kind of undercover cop? Is that it?" Tom said slowly.

He took her continued silence as an admission.

"I knew you were up to something when you followed Peralta out of here like a damn bloodhound."

Sabrina felt her back hit the wall.. There was no where else to go. She raised her fists, ready to defend herself.

Tom laughed and reached out to grab her arm.

"What could you possibly do to m-"

He was cut off by a right hook to the face.

He roared in pain as Sabrina ducked around him. She sent another fist his way as he turned around, this one catching him in nose.

Tom fell to his knees, blood gushing from his now broken nose.

Sabrina shook out her fist in pain and ran towards the door. Tom dove towards her and caught her ankle, sending her off balance and to the floor.

She quickly rolled onto her back as Tom lunged towards her, trying but failing to kick him away. He yanked her up by the front of her suit and slapped her sharply across the face.

Dazed, Sabrina's next punch went too far right and missed him completely. She wouldn't get another chance. Tom took control of the situation by wrapping his hands around her throat. Sabrina gagged and choked as she slapped and clawed at his arms and face, desperately trying to free herself. It quickly became obvious that her feeble attacks were accomplishing nothing, so she looked around frantically for something to help her. Even through her pain and terror, her logical and strategic mind bombarded her with possible means of escape. Her right hand shot out and groped blindly around the floor, looking for a weapon and not finding one. Tom let out a triumphant laugh as he watched her thrash helplessly, thinking the fight over.

She turned her head to the left and spotted a heavy glass doorstop. Her heart jumped. If she could get to it, she might survive. There wasn't much time.

Tom continued his assault, squeezing tighter, pleased by the purplish shade her face was taking on.

"It's a shame I have to do this." he taunted her. "I honestly liked you. We could have had something together, me and you."

Sabrina strained her arm, her fingertips uselessly brushing the surface of the doorstop. She let out of strangled cry of anxious frustration. She felt herself losing consciousness. She had one last chance to get to it and if she didnt, it would all be over. Her vision was already starting to get fuzzy.

Sabrina's will to live was strong and with a grunt of effort, she bucked forward with her legs and was overjoyed to feel her hand gripping the cold glass of the doorstop.

With her strength ebbing, she gripped the cold glass firmly and aimed for Tom's head. She swung with all her might and smashed the weight into his temple. The impact made a dull thudding sound and Sabrina felt her weapon crack in two in her hands.

Tom bellowed in pain and rolled off of her, clutching his head, blood spurting through his fingers. He writhed in pain for a few moments, cursing and moaning in agony, made a few pathetic attempts to get up and then sank to the floor, unconscious.

Sabrina coughed and sputtered, gratefully sucking air into her burning lungs. Badly shaken, she backed up against the door, trembling and still clutching the broken doorstop tightly in her hand. After a few minutes, she willed herself to move. Their cover had been blown and they were all in danger.

She whipped off her belt and tightly tied Tom's hands behind his back. She reached down to check his pulse and was relieved that she hadn't killed him. Hopefully he would be out for awhile, though. She rooted around in his pockets and found a ring of keys. She flipped through them until she found the one marked file room.

Sabrina turned off the light and closed the door behind her. Before she left, she stuck the key in the door and taking a step back, kicked it hard, breaking the key inside the lock.

Goodbye, Tom, she thought to herself.

She ran back upstairs to her office with the intention of calling Jill. Right as her hand touched the phone, it rang. Sabrina jerked it up in agitation, intending to hang it up again to free the line, but stopped when she heard Jill's voice.

"Bri!" she heard her yell into the phone.

"Yeah, Jill." she answered breathlessly, her voice hoarse from being choked.

"Bri, Kelly isn't home and her car is gone. Do you think she's driving to the shipyards already?"

Sabrina felt her stomach drop. She swallowed hard, rubbing her throat with one hand. "We're busted, Jill. Tom tried to kill me."

Jill was silent for a moment. "What?! Are you al-"

"Jill, I need to call Kelly. Meet me at the office as soon as you can. They saw us together."

Jill hung up immediately. Sabrina hurriedly punched down the button on the receiver and dialed Kelly's car phone. She had to stop her from going to the shipyard. If her cover had been blown, there was a good chance that Kelly's had too.

* * *

Right outside of the isolated shack, Kelly took a deep breath and got out of her car. She had no idea what Fred wanted, but it was best to play her part. Determined by the thought that she would bring them all to justice tonight, she purposefully strode towards it

As she walked, her phone went off, ringing urgently inside her car, unheard and just a second too late.


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Kelly walked up the gravel drive to the little shack and banged on the door three times in quick succession.

Their painfully obvious secret knock.

The door cracked open, revealing Fred's scowling face.

"Get inside." he ordered. He opened the door and stepped aside to let her through.

Kelly pushed past him and walked inside. She immediately sensed that something wasn't right. No one else was here.

"So, you didn't tell us you were an amateur photographer." Fred said casually, shutting the door.

Kelly willed her panic to not show.

"What?"

Fred gave her a forced smile.

"I think you know. Come on, I have someone who wants to talk to you."

Kelly paled. Had they been seen?

Fred grabbed her roughly by the arm and dragged her across the room. Once farther inside, she noticed a man standing behind some crates that she had personally stacked.

Peralta.

Kelly hitched a breath. She was in a great deal of trouble. She suddenly realized that in her exhausted stupor, she had failed to call Sabrina and Jill to tell them where she was going. Was she now going to pay for her careless mistake with her life? Fred yanked her towards him and then halted, her arm gripped tightly in his hand.

Peralta stood up and smiled at her as he approached them.

"So. Who are you, really?"

Kelly put on a charming smile.

"I'm Kelly." she said innocently.

Peralta delivered a brutal slap to her face. Kelly's head whipped around and she nearly lost her balance before righting herself again.

"Don't play with me. Who are you?" he snarled.

"Hey, I'm just a girl trying to make a buck, that's all. What's going on?" she said fearfully, still playing innocent.

Peralta struck her again, the blow sending her to the floor.

"You have one last chance. Are you a cop?" he asked, standing over her.

Kelly cowered on the floor, shaking in feigned fear.

"No, please sir, I'm not a cop." she said quickly.

Peralta turned to look at Fred, her convincing performance having raised doubts in him.

That was what Kelly had been waiting for.

She shot her foot up and connected solidly with Peralta's groin. He gasped in pain and came crashing to his knees. Kelly's foot shot out again, her heel slamming into his Adam's apple. Peralta let out a strangled wail and sank to the ground.

Kelly scrambled to her feet and bolted for the door. Her only obstacle was Fred.

He reached out and grabbed her jacket as she ducked around him. Kelly whirled around and slammed her knuckles into his eye, earning her a shrill scream of pain from Fred. When he didn't release her, she sent another quick punch to the side of his head. He cursed loudly, but managed to keep his hold on her and sent a fist flying in her direction. Kelly easily dodged it and threw her hip into him, using his momentum to send him flying over her shoulder and to the floor.

Before she could resume her escape, something hard and heavy smashed into the back of her head. Bright lights exploded in front of her eyes as she felt her legs give out from under her.

Kelly crumpled to the floor, stunned by the heavy blow.

Her mind spinning, she desperately tried to get up, but found that she couldn't. Someone pulled her off of the floor. She was dragged to a back room and pushed into a chair.

Half conscious, she struggled weakly against her attackers, trying to free herself, but it was no use. Her arms were pulled behind her and her wrists roughly lashed together behind the chair. She felt her legs pull back as her ankles were secured tightly to the bottom rung of the chair. She was trapped.

Someone slapped her face just hard enough to get her attention.

"Hey, don't go to sleep. Right here." he said, jerking her chin up to face them. Kelly struggled to focus her eyes. Her head was throbbing and she could feel blood trickling down her neck.

She blinked her eyes rapidly, trying to get her double vision to clear. He slapped her again.

Deciding she was lucid enough to understand him now, the man leaned his face into hers.

Kelly's vision focused enough to realize that it was Peralta.

"Nowhere to run." he said with a cocky grin. He snapped his fingers in her face. "Look at me."

Kelly glared at him.

"That's better." he said pleasantly. Kelly could now see his ugly face clearly in front of her. She couldn't help but be pleased with how raspy and harsh his voice sounded. If only she had kicked him harder.

"Now, tell me who you are."

"I already did." she muttered.

Peralta backhanded her hard across the face. Kelly tasted blood in her mouth, but gritted her teeth through the pain.

"Wrong answer." he hissed at her. "Try again."

"Kelly." she answered angrily. Peralta slapped her.

"I know that much. Your last name." he said, tilting her chin up. "It would be a shame to damage this pretty face of yours any more."

"Kelly Garrett." she said softly. What did it matter if he knew her name?

Peralta patted her shoulder. "Now we're moving in the right direction. Now, Kelly Garrett, what are you really doing here?"

"I've been working here." she answered. Peralta hit her again.

"Kelly, you're starting to test my patience." he said calmly. "Are you a cop?"

Kelly worked her jaw, trying to alleviate the soreness where she had been hit.

"No."

Peralta sighed. "Why were you spying on me? Who do you work for?"

Kelly smiled at him. "Well, until a few minutes ago, I worked for you. Obviously, I'll be quitting now."

Peralta shook with fury at her facetiousness. He slammed his fist into her midsection over and over again, mercilessly pounding her until she couldn't breathe. Kelly groaned in pain, but refused to answer his question. When his fit was over, he walked away from her, his hands laced over his head, trying to decide what to do.

Kelly watched him, a twisted grimace of pain on her face. Her breathing was harsh and uneven, it hurt to inhale deeply. Peralta might hurt her, but she was no stranger to abuse. It was her friends she was worried about. She had to buy time for Sabrina and Jill. If she had been seen, then so had they. Hopefully, she could find a way out of this. She wasn't sure how much more punishment she could physically take. She licked her lip, the metallic taste of blood filling her mouth. Her nose and lower lip were both bleeding, sending a trickle of blood down her chin and she could feel her left eye starting to swell, diminishing her vision. Kelly took a deep calming breath. Peralta had apparently decided to take a break and she was glad for the temporary relief.

Her relief turned out to be very temporary. Fred walked into the room and made a beeline for Peralta. It was a small consolation to Kelly to see that he was limping.

"There's three of them. I think they're undercover cops. Giorgio said he saw them drive off in an orange Pinto and a white Cobra." Fred said quickly. "He staked out the Pinto for awhile. Tried to get them both in a parking lot, but they got out of the way in time."

Kelly stiffened as she heard him describe her friend's vehicles and apparent close encounter. They had been seen in the parking lot exchanging information. She cursed herself for not being more careful.

"An orange Pinto?" Peralta echoed in disbelief.

"Yeah, I guess only two of them have class." Fred joked.

Peralta ignored him. "What did the girl driving the Pinto look like?"

Fred shrugged. "Tall, thin brunette, dressed nice."

Peralta cursed loudly.

"I think I know who she is. Damn, right under my nose the whole time." He punched his fist hard in frustration. "Tell Tom to take care of her." he said to Fred. Fred nodded and hurried away.

He turned his gaze to Kelly. She was unnerved by the way he was looking at her. It was the look of a cold blooded killer and she bravely accepted her fate. She tensed as Peralta walked back up to her.

"A cop, huh?" he said, roughly shoving her head backwards. " I know where one of your friends is now. Where can I find the other one?"

Kelly clenched her jaw, determined not to give her away.

"Tell me, and maybe I'll let you go." Peralta said casually.

Kelly scoffed. No, he wouldn't, she wasn't stupid.

At her continued silence, Peralta smacked her on the side of the head with his open palm.

"I'm waiting!" he yelled in her face. "Where is your little blonde friend with the Cobra?"

"I don't know." Kelly answered defiantly. Peralta hit her hard. The force of the blow sent Kelly's chair tilting sideways on two legs for a moment before crashing back down to the floor again.

"Tell me!" he shouted again. He was rapidly losing his patience with her.

Kelly glared at him and kept her mouth shut.

He took a deep breath, reigning in his temper.

"Kelly, don't be stupid." he reasoned in a softer voice. "Would she really do the same for you?"

Kelly smiled. Probably, she thought to herself.

Her grin enraged him and backhanded her viciously across the face again, straining a muscle in her neck as her head whipped sideways. He grabbed her hair and yanked her head up, leaning in close to her.

"Where is she, Kelly?" he asked in a sugary voice, his rage barely suppressed.

Kelly defiantly spit blood in his face.

Peralta jerked back in disgust and wiped his face, his hand trembling in fury. "You'll pay for that." he seethed at her.

"It'll be worth it." she whispered harshly.

Peralta's face darkened and he sent blow after blow to her head and shoulders, wailing away at her in a rage. After awhile, he stepped away and took a deep calming breath, leaving her beaten and panting in her chair. He stepped outside and returned a few moments later with a long piece of heavy metal pipe.

"Ok. One more time. Where is your friend?" he said wearily.

Kelly looked up at him, hardly seeing him through her swollen eye. At the sight of the pipe, her stomach turned. She was terrified, and channeled her fear into anger.

"Go ahead and kill me with that. You coward!" she snapped.

Peralta ignored her.

"Now, Kelly. You do know what members of the Italian mob are known for right?" he asked, tapping the pipe ominously in his hand.

Kelly thought for a moment.

"Their spaghetti?"

Peralta swung the pipe at her left knee. She screamed in agony as it smashed into her kneecap with a sickening crack.

"Kelly, you can walk out of here if you just tell me where to find your friend." Peralta said coolly. He pushed the pipe into her face, taunting her.

Kelly glared up at him, trembling in pain. "They'll probably find you before you can find them." she spat at him.

Peralta swung the pipe again at the same knee. Kelly twisted and thrashed in her chair, writhing in agony and moaning through her gritted teeth.

"Start talking, Kelly." he sang. Kelly glared at him murderously, her breathing shallow and ragged as she fought to compose herself against the unbearable pain.

She opened her mouth and cursed him loudly.

Peralta lunged forward, grabbed her shoulder and raised the pipe high. Kelly cringed as she waited for him to crush her skull with the heavy piece of metal. She was surprised when the fatal blow didn't come. She opened her eyes as Peralta released her, breathing heavily and sagging with relief.

Peralta lowered his weapon and rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. He dropped the pipe, letting it clatter to the cement floor.

"You know what? I'm not going to kill you just yet." he said, a slow smile spreading across his face. "I'm going to wait until I have your blonde friend here. And then I'm going to kill her first. And you're going to watch me.

He leaned his face close to hers. "It won't be slow either, Kelly." he whispered in a patronizing tone. "She'll have you to thank for that."

Kelly's temper suddenly flared at his continued threats on Jill's life, and despite her pain, she jerked her head forward, butting Peralta solidly in the face. He jerked backwards in surprise and let out a string of crude curse words as he savagely grabbed her by the throat. Suddenly, as if he just remembered his earlier threat, he again released her and stepped away, having learned his lesson.

He smiled sweetly as he straightened his jacket, all trace of his previous rage now gone. "You'll be begging for me to kill you before I'm done with your friend."

Kelly looked away, still waiting for the pain in her knee to subside.

"We're already going to take care of Sabrina Duncan." he sneered at her.

Kelly's heart skipped a beat, but she didn't look up.

"That's right." he said. "You can wait in here while we find her."

He dug in his suit pocket and pulled out a large handkerchief. He rolled it up and roughly forced it into Kelly's mouth, securing it in a tight knot behind her head. Peralta reached out and stroked Kelly's hair, eyeing her lustfully. She jerked away from him in revulsion.

"When I come back, maybe me and you will have some fun." he said pleasantly. "We'll talk later, Kelly." He patted her on the cheek and walked calmly out of the room, closing the door behind him. She heard him lock it.

Kelly sighed in relief. At least her physical torture was over for the moment. She was frightened for her two friends. They knew about Sabrina and she prayed that her friend would escape whatever fate they had set in store for her. And hopefully, they wouldn't even find Jill.

She had to somehow get free and warn them before it was too late.

She tested the ropes around her wrists and ankles and was dismayed to see that they were hopelessly tight. She would never be able to loosen them. And moving around was causing her far too much pain. Her entire body ached. She lowered her head in defeat. Several drops of blood dripped down into her lap from a cut above her right eye where Peralta had split the skin with his fist. I must look like a mess, she thought grimly.

She gingerly moved her leg and gritted her teeth as hot searing pain shot through her left leg. He had probably fractured or cracked her kneecap. She took several quick breaths, trying to calm herself down.

After strugglingin vain for a few more minutes, her exhausted body could try no longer. Unable to keep her eyes open, Kelly rested her chin on her chest and felt herself slowly fading into unconsciousness.


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Kelly opened her eyes and gazed around her surroundings in dazed confusion. Bothered by something in her mouth, she tried to lift her hand, but found herself unable to move. The past few hours suddenly rushed back to her, knotting her stomach with cold dread. She was still badly beaten and tied to a chair in an unfamiliar room. Kelly experimentally moved in her chair and was greeted by sharp waves of pain from all over her body. She moaned in despair through the gag in her mouth.

She had never felt so helpless in her life.

She wondered how long she had been unconscious. However long it had been, she felt much more clearheaded than she had during her beating. Ignoring the throbbing pain in her head and neck, she rocked back and forth in her chair, trying to loosen the bonds around her wrists. She got no luck with the ropes, but was surprised to discover a creaking sound coming from her chair.

She rocked again and smiled to herself. The chair must have been cracked. Kelly pressed her back into the chair and heard a slight creak as the back leg began to give way.

The next hour was spent trying to gradually break her chair. Her plan was to damage it as much as possible and then tip over backwards. Hopefully the force would break the leg and bottom rung of the chair, freeing her legs.

When she felt the back leg was sufficiently wobbly enough, she took a deep breath and threw all of her weight backwards. As the chair flipped over, Kelly was treated to the loud snapping sound of breaking wood. She landed hard, striking the back of her head again on the concrete floor and uncomfortably crushing her arms and hands under her weight.

She took the fall without uttering a sound, quickly rolled to her side and lay quietly for a few moments as she recovered from the impact of her fall. Once the waves of dizziness had passed, she tried to kick her legs free. Much to her delight, the chair was of poor quality and her fall had not only broken the back leg of the chair, but had split the seat completely down the middle. With the chair split, she was able to kick her feet completely free of it. A few more minutes of twisting had her ankles free of the rope as well.

She paused to rest for a moment, wincing at the pain in her knee. She was glad to be done kicking.

Kelly tested the ropes around her wrists again. They hadn't at all been loosened and were still holding her hands fast to the slats in the back of the chair. She scooted backwards until she felt herself touch the wall. Using her one good leg, she pushed herself up the wall to a standing position. She rested for a moment planning her next move.

This would have to be done at the right angle. Propping herself up on her good leg, she leaned her weight into the chair, pressing as hard as she could until she heard the wood splinter and finally snap. The chair suddenly gave way, sending her stumbling to the floor. She held back a scream of pain as she landed on her injured knee and collapsed to the floor. Kelly shut her eyes and bit down on her gag hard, waiting for the waves of pain from her knee to become bearable again. Once she recovered, she twisted and squirmed until she finally removed the bits of chair from her wrists.

She sighed in relief and rested again, feeling sweat dampen the back of her shirt with her exertion. The most difficult part now completed, she relied on her flexibility to take her the rest of the way. She carefully positioned herself in a ball on the floor, and leaning backwards, slipped her wrists behind and over her legs, bringing her bound hands in front of her. She grimaced in pain as she felt the rope cutting into her skin as she strained against it.

Finally in a position to free herself, she pulled the gag out of her mouth and chewed through the rope. Now free, she rubbed her wrists gingerly, frowning at the deep stinging cuts the ropes had made during her struggle.

Kelly leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. Her head ached horribly and she felt sick to her stomach from the constant pain in her knee. A powerful wave of exhaustion hit her and she forced herself to open her eyes to keep from passing out. She reached up and gently felt the large knot on the back of her head. Her hair was matted and sticky and she wasn't surprised when upon examining her hand, she found blood on her fingertips. She ran her fingers over her face and winced as she felt the busted lip, the swollen eye, the dried blood around her mouth and nose, and the numerous scrapes and cuts. Peralta had probably been wearing a ring on one of his hands, she decided grimly. Kelly sighed and wiped her face with her sleeve, frowning at the amount of blood that now stained her jacket. It could have worse, she thought. At least he didn't know where Jill was.

She reached up and quietly tested the doorknob. The door was locked and she had nothing to use as a lockpick. It was flimsy enough to be kicked in, but there would be no point in alerting her captors that she had freed herself. She waited for a few minutes and then unsteadily rose to her feet. She put weight on her injured knee and hissed in pain as it started to give way.

This would complicate her escape.

She limped over to the broken bits of wood and picked up a sturdy chair leg. The wood was heavy and smooth in her hands and Kelly decided it would make an excellent weapon. Someone was bound to come in and when they did, she would be ready.

Hours later, Kelly heard footsteps outside her door. She grabbed her chair leg and hurried back to her spot. Keys jingled outside as someone prepared to unlock the door.

Kelly lifted her weapon over her shoulder like a baseball bat. She would get one chance and she had to make it count. It would be easy to overpower her in her condition so she had to make sure she did as much damage as possible. She tensed and held her breath as she watched the doorknob turn.

She heard Fred's voice before the door even opened.

"I bet your friend Sabrina has been taken care of by now. Boss says to give you one more chance t-"

Fred peered inside the room in horror. She was gone. He shoved the door open wide and rushed inside.

Kelly swung her chair leg as hard as she could. Fred turned just in time to catch the heavy bat right in the face.

He didn't even have time to scream.

Kelly looked down at Fred's unconscious form. She had broken his nose and blood was gushing all over the floor.

"That was for Jill." she whispered. She tucked her weapon in her jacket and cautiously looked outside. The little shack was seemingly empty.

Good.

She limped into the empty room, shutting the door behind her to conceal Fred. Luck seemed to be on her side as no one else was around. She slowly and painfully made her way outside. As she approached where she had parked, she moaned in dismay.

Her car was gone.

She cursed to herself and made her way over to a nearby tree to rest. Kelly leaned her head against her tree and eyed her surroundings. The little shack was in a small clearing about half a mile from the highway and accessible only by a few unpaved roads. There was no way she would be able to walk such a distance with her injured knee. But there seemed to be no other alternative. She took a deep breath and began making her way towards the highway.

She limped several yards, before sinking to the ground to rest. Trembling and nauseous with pain, she wiped her face and looked hopelessly out onto the empty road. It would take all night to get to the freeway. Clenching her teeth, she pushed herself up and managed to get back to her feet. Something off to her left suddenly caught her eye.

She was surprised to see a beat up old car parked not far from where she was. It was Christian's little green volkswagen bug. Kelly was elated. If she could hotwire it, she could get out of here and warn her friends.

If there was still time. She guessed it was around six thirty in the evening, meaning she had been locked inside for over three hours.

Kelly began to drag herself in the direction of the car, moving as carefully as possible to avoid straining her knee.

As she slowly made her way to the car, she suddenly heard loud angry shouts from behind her.

She whirled around in terror.

A tan Cadillac had pulled up behind the shack. She watched as two men jumped out of it and ran towards her, waving their arms and shouting angrily. She recognized them from the warehouse and they certainly had recognized her. They would kill her for sure.

She desperately surged forward, ignoring the blinding pain in her knee as she forced herself to run to the car as quickly as possible. The men were getting closer

Kelly stumbled into the car and frantically pulled the door handle.

It was locked.

She cursed loudly. Thinking quickly, she braced herself and threw her elbow into the glass, shattering it. She stuck her hand inside, unlocked it and got in. She had always been deeply ashamed of her past, but at this moment she thanked God that she had the ability to hotwire a car. She ripped open the compartment under the dashboard and started fumbling for the proper wires.

The men were within thirty feet of her.

"Come on, damn it." Kelly moaned in frustration as she frantically worked the wires under the dash. She glanced over at the men and was startled to see them already within several yards of her.

"Work!" she yelled in desperation. As if convinced by her outburst, the engine roared to life. Kelly let out a triumphant whoop of joy and immediately shifted the car in reverse and slammed her foot onto the accelerator. Her left knee seared with pain as she worked the clutch, but with the adrenaline surging through her, she barely noticed.

The car had started not a moment too soon. As Kelly pulled away, the two men's hands were yanked from their grip on her door handle. They tumbled to the floor, leaped to their feet, and hopelessly gave chase.

Kelly exhaled sharply in relief as she sped away from the clearing where the shack was and down the dirt road leading to the highway. She was shaking all over and took a deep breath to calm herself. She was alive and it was best to not dwell on what could have happened. She pushed her rising anxiety away and focused all of her thoughts on driving.

Her jacket suddenly felt like it was suffocating her and she quickly pulled it off and tossed it into the passenger seat. She looked outside at the setting sun and frowned. It was almost seven and her friends were most likely worried sick by now. She would go to Sabrina first, if something hadn't already happened to her. She prayed that it hadn't. Her friends needed to be warned. She reached the highway and headed back towards town. As she drove, she chanced a glance into the rearview mirror to see how bad she looked.

Her eyes widened in terror and her heart jumped into her throat.

Her face may have been bruised and bloodied, but it was the sight of a tan Cadillac behind her that caused her so much distress.

The two men were in the Cadillac and the vehicle was rapidly approaching her.

Kelly slammed her palms into the steering wheel in hopeless frustration. Another careless mistake! How had she been so stupid as to not notice that she was being followed? They were going to run her off of the road.

She jammed the accelerator down, hoping that the clunker she had stolen would be able to handle the increased speed. The bug shook and rattled, but jolted along the highway at ninety miles per hour. Kelly's eyes darted up to the rearview mirror. The Cadillac was still right behind her. Kelly watched with growing dread as it sped up, it's intentions very clear. She braced herself as it crashed into the back of her car.

Kelly yelped as the impact whipped her forward in her seat. Panicked, she ground the pedal to the floor.

The old car groaned in protest and refused to go faster.

The Cadillac rammed her again, making her temporarily lose control of her car. She quickly regained it, and desperately tried to think of a plan. Her frazzled mind could come up with nothing, so she acted completely out of desperation.

She swung her car to the left and slammed on the brakes. When the Cadillac was side by side with her, she spun the steering wheel hard to the right, sending her slamming into the bigger vehicle as it passed her.

The Cadillac swerved out of control and then spun out.

Kelly shrieked in terror as the Cadillac suddenly spun in her path, a head on collision seemingly inevitable. She instinctively yanked the wheel to the right to avoid it. At the abrupt change of direction, the old car gave out on her, both front tires blowing out and sending her careening out of control.

The out of control car flew off the road and lurched down a steep embankment. With Kelly powerless to stop it, the car flipped on its side and tumbled down into the densely wooded area coming to an abrupt stop as it crashed into a large oak tree.


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"Bri, what happened?" Jill demanded, rushing over to the driver's side window as Sabrina parked her car. Sabrina shook her head and pushed open the door, forcing Jill to back up to let her out. Jill crowded her again as soon as she stepped out of the car.

"What happened?" Jill repeated impatiently.

"They saw us taking pictures at the shipyard. We blew it." Sabrina said angrily, her voice still hoarse from her attack. She pushed past Jill, trying to get inside as quickly as possible. Jill grabbed her arm and jerked her to a halt.

"Will you stop and talk to me?" she asked, her voice high and frightened. "Are you alright? What happened to you?"

Sabrina sighed in frustration and turned to face Jill. "Tom. The guy in the picture. Someone must have told him to get rid of me."

Jill's eyes widened at the sight of the red marks on her friend's throat, the finger shaped bruises telling the story without Sabrina having to say a word. She reached out and tilted Sabrina's chin up so she could get a better look.

"Jesus Bri, he could have killed you. How did you get away?"

Sabrina pulled away from Jill and rubbed her throat. "I brained him with a doorstop. C'mon, Boz must be going crazy."

The two girls jogged up the steps and hurried inside to the office. Bosley stood up and quickly approached them as they opened the door and walked inside.

"Hey, are you two ok?" he asked in concern. He looked them over. "What happened?"

Jill spoke up so Sabrina wouldn't have to. "We spied on Peralta in the shipyards earlier. Someone must have seen us and followed Sabrina back. I went over for lunch and someone shot at us both."

She paused a moment and looked at Sabrina. Sabrina didn't try to take over so she continued. "And someone spread the word around. One of Bri's co-workers tried to kill her." she explained. She gently ran her fingers through Sabrina's hair. "Nearly succeeded, by the the looks of it." she finished, still eyeing the marks on her friend's neck.

Sabrina scoffed. "Don't worry. I'm fine." she insisted.

Bosley looked at both girls, blown away at how lucky they were to be standing here. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, Boz, we're fine." Sabrina assured him as she flopped down into the couch. "We don't know about Kelly, though."

"She wasn't at home and she's not answering her car phone. I've been calling her for the past hour." Jill added from the bar. She poured a glass of water and returned to the couch. She took a seat next to Sabrina and handed her the glass.

"Thanks, Jill." she muttered. She drank the water and stared miserably ahead. Jill gently rubbed her back, knowing that Sabrina was beating herself up over their situation.

"When was the last time you saw her?" Bosley asked.

"I took her home a little before eleven. I stayed with her about forty five minutes and then I left." Jill said. "She hasn't tried to call you either, Boz?" she added hopefully.

Bosley shook his head. "No. And that's not like her."

Sabrina suddenly stood up. "We can't wait around here. She may have gone to the shipyards and I think that should be the first place we look." she said decisively

Bosley nodded his head. "Go together. I'll call highway patrol, see if somebody has spotted her car. Keep in touch."

Armed with a plan of action, the two girls quickly left the office and jumped into Sabrina's car, Jill insisting on driving. It was five in the afternoon and the L.A. traffic was unusually heavy for a normal weekday. Both girls fidgeted anxiously as they slowly crawled towards their destination. With nothing to do but sit and wait, they took turns calling Kelly's car and house phone in the rapidly diminishing hope that she would answer.

"Try again, Jill." Sabrina said tersely.

Jill sighed and dialed Kelly's car phone for the fifth time. Both girls waited in anticipation as the phone rang on the other end. After fifteen rings, Jill sighed and shook her head. Sabrina's face fell.

Kelly still wasn't answering.

"Bri, what if they already got her?" Jill asked, her voice breaking.

Sabrina shook her head.

"Maybe she went somewhere else."

"Where the hell else would she go? You should have seen her, Bri! She was exhausted! She wouldn't just get up and run errands!"

Sabrina rubbed her face in frustration. She knew Jill was right.

"I don't know, Jill."

The two girls drove in worried silence for a few minutes, before Sabrina brought up the matter at hand.

"Jill, we still have to go through with tonight no matter what happens." she said quietly, waiting for Jill's reaction.

Jill turned and glared at her for moment before turning away.

"Don't do this to me, Jill." Sabrina pleaded, rubbing her temples. "I'm worried sick about her too, but a lot of people are depending on us."

Sabrina had just about abandoned hope of getting a response out of her, when Jill sighed and turned to her.

"You're right, I'm sorry. Let's just check out the shipyard first, maybe she's there." she said.

The two girls remained quiet the remainder of the drive and parked in the alley. They crept towards the window that they had been spying through earlier that day. Sabrina and Jill exchanged a worried glance.

There was no one inside.

"Where else could she be?" Sabrina asked desperately.

Jill shook her head. She had been certain they would have found her at the shipyards. She gasped as she remembered something Kelly had told her a few days ago.

"Bri! Didn't Kelly say something about a little shack out on 405?"

Sabrina paused as she tried to remember. Kelly had mentioned it once before as the place where they were storing drugs for themselves.

"Yeah, she did. You think she could be there?" she asked excitedly.

"I'll check. It's getting late, we need to tell the police what's going on. Have them on standby in case the plans change."

Sabrina nodded. "I'll take care of that. Do you know where that place is?"

"No, but it's off of the freeway somewhere, I'll try to find it. Take me back to my car, we'll split up and meet later."

The two girls drove back to the office and prepared to go their separate ways.

"Jill, be careful. Check in every thirty minutes." Sabrina said seriously. "Let's meet at the office at nine."

"Fine. Call if you hear anything." Jill said shortly. She jumped in her car and drove away. Sabrina watched her go and then got into her own car. She pinched the bridge of her nose in helpless frustration. Neither of them had any idea where Kelly was and it was making her stomach turn with dread. Any hope of Kelly's absence being a misunderstanding was now gone. Kelly undoubtedly would have called them had she known she couldn't make their meeting at 5:30. It was nearing 6:00 now, and Kelly was undeniably in trouble.

If she was still alive.

Sabrina groaned and started driving aimlessly. She dialed the L.A.P.D. and waited for an answer.

"Los Angeles Police Department, how may I direct your call?" came a pleasant woman's voice.

"I'm with Townsend Investigations, can I please speak to Lieutenant Alan Michaels."

"One moment."

Sabrina waited impatiently for her call to be transferred. As she waited, she realized that she was unconsciously driving back towards the shipyards. She started to change directions and then changed her mind. That was a good a place as any to check out again.

"Lieutenant Michaels."

Sabrina jerked back in surprise, having momentarily forgotten that she was on the phone.

"Lieutenant, this is Sabrina Duncan with Townsend Investigations. Look, we're having some problems. One of our associates has disappeared so we're going to have to change plans a little." she said quickly.

"Disappeared?" Michaels echoed gruffly.

"Yeah, we think our cover was blown and they got her." she explained. Sabrina winced at the cold, unfeeling way she brushed over her best friend's situation. Now wasn't the time to fall apart, though. "Listen everything is going down tonight at midnight at Warehouse 59. They're should be a whole crowd of dealers there to buy up Peralta's drugs."

"And you're sure of this?"

Sabrina frowned. "Not entirely, they may change plans slightly because they know who we are, but those are the plans as of now. We'll call immediately if we find anything else."

"Alright, then." Michaels sighed. His tone seemed like he was inconvenienced by the call. "I'll get a team out there at midnight."

"Thank you." Sabrina said. She hung up the phone, feeling agitated and uneasy. Anything could happen now that their covers had been blown. Sabrina drove on until she reached the shipyard. Something suddenly occurred to her. They had seen her car.

She passed the shipyards and swung around looking for the nearest car rental service she could find.

A few miles down, she found one and quickly swung in the lot. She was glad Charlie provided them with company credit cards for any random supplies they might need during a case. Twenty minutes later, she drove away in a blue 1972 AMC Gremlin.

Sabrina quickly acclimated herself to the unfamiliar car as she made her way back to the shipyard. She parked fifty yards away, hiding her car in the dark shadows, grateful that it was a less noticeable color than orange. Her lesson learned from their last visit, she cautiously made her way towards the warehouse, on constant guard for anyone spying on her.

Satisfied that there was no one around, she made her way to the same window Kelly had looked through earlier that day and peeked inside. Fred was pacing inside, swinging a telephone in his hand, talking into the reciever as he walked.

- wasn't sure. So he changed it to number 78."

Fred paused for a moment as he listened to whoever he was talking to. "Yeah." he responded finally and hung up the phone. He rubbed his face in nervous frustration and then dialed another number. Sabrina waited anxiously for more information, but to her dismay Fred walked to the opposite side of the room, the phone cord trailing behind him.

Sabrina sighed. She felt paranoid and was afraid to hang around the window any longer. Fred had mentioned 78. What was that? Was that the address of the warehouse? Moving locations would certainly be a logical move on their part. Sabrina jogged back to her car and got inside. She reached down to call Jill on her car phone and then realized that the rental car didn't have one. She leaned her head back, suddenly very agitated.

She wanted this to be over. She wanted Kelly to be safe. She wanted to scream.

And most of all she wanted this goddamn car to have a phone in it.

She growled her frustration to herself and started the car. Sabrina drove along the seaside warehouses, noting the big numbers painted on each one. She stopped when she got to 78. Could this be their new location?

Sabrina parked along the street and warily made her way towards the new warehouse. Warehouse 78 was much smaller than the previous warehouse but had the same basic design. Most of the windows were boarded up, but from the ones that weren't she could tell it was completely dark inside. She sighed to herself and jogged up for a closer look.

Sabrina found a window and peeked inside. She pulled back in disgust. If there was anything inside, she couldn't see it. It was completely dark. Fred could have been talking about this place, but it was still too early for anyone to have arrived.

Or he could have been talking about something else entirely, she had no clue. Feeling useless, she went back to her car and sat quietly for a moment, trying to calm her nerves.

She hoped Jill was having better luck.  
__________________________________________________________________________________

"I hope Sabrina is having more luck than I am." Jill grumbled to herself. She had been driving up and down the same thirty miles of freeway looking for the shack that Kelly had described to her. Finally, running low on gas, she noticed a run down gas station. It looked shabby and uncared for, the owner probably not caring because it was so out of the way. But there was no annoying red flag so she pulled into the station. She parked at one of the pumps and began filling up her tank.

She looked up as a tan Cadillac pulled into the station a few moments later. Jill tilted her head as she looked at it. It's entire left side was dented in and a huge green scrape ran along the length of the car. They must have been in an accident just recently. She turned away as two men got out of the car, both from the passenger door, the driver's door having been rendered useless by the accident.

Jill quietly continued pumping her gas, her interest in the Cadillac gone, while the men exchanged a few words. Suddenly, their conversation caught her attention.

-should go back and make sure. Peralta will kill us." said the man pumping gas. Jill's head popped up and she tilted her head to listen closer.

"I already told you, it doesn't matter. She can't do anything now. The deal goes down at ten in the new place. We'll just tell him what he wants to hear."

Gas spurted out at Jill as the tank reached it's capacity. She let go of the handle and distractedly wiped her hands on her jeans as she listened to the men talk. The men changed topics and a few minutes later, one of them ran into the store to pay. Jill pulled the nozzle out of her car, her hands trembling. Those men worked for Peralta. Were they talking about Kelly? She fought the urge to pull out her gun and demand an answer from them. She quickly went inside the store to pay for her gas. As she walked inside, the man she had overhead stepped aside and politely opened the door for her.

"Hi, how are you?" he asked with a charming smile. Jill tersely nodded her head at him and pushed past him, unwilling to open her mouth for fear of what would come out. She stepped up to the counter to pay for her gas, keeping an eye on the Cadillac. She planned to follow them and was anxious to get out of the store.

"Six dollars and forty eight cents." the clerk said slowly.

Her eyes still on the car outside, she handed him a ten dollar bill.

"Hold on, miss. Drawers stuck again." he said distractedly.

Jill bounced anxiously from one foot to the other as the clerk fussed with his cash register. The two men outside were both in the car now. She heard their engine start. She whirled around back to the clerk.

"Here you go." she said impatiently, holding out the bill to him.

As if his mission was to keep her there as long as possible, he slowly took the bill and began to pluck out coins to make change. He looked up, surprised to see Jill at the door.

"Hey!" he called.

Exasperated, Jill turned around. "Yes?"

"Your change?"

"Keep it!" Jill called out as she raced out the door. The Cadillac was pulling out of the driveway, back onto the road. Jill ran to her car and followed, seconds behind them.

She tailed them back to the freeway, hoping with all she had that they would lead her back to Kelly. A few minutes later, her hopes were dashed. They were headed back into town. She let out a scream of anger.

Tears of frustration welled up in Jill's eyes. Kelly could be hurt and scared somewhere, desperately needing help and not getting it because her two friends didn't know where to find her. What if she was dead? Or dying, suffering alone somewhere, still able to be saved, but doomed to die because there was no one to help her.

Jill shook the troubling thoughts from her head. She needed to stay calm and think positively. Kelly was alive.

And she was going to find her.

* * *

Not knowing what else to do, Sabrina drove out of the city, headed to where she knew Jill would be looking for Kelly. She drove up and down the highway, unknowingly taking the same route that Jill had taken earlier.

After driving aimlessly for an hour, she realized that it was almost 8:30. She wouldn't make it back to the office in time to meet Jill. She again reached down for her car phone and again was irritated that she wasn't in her own car. Sabrina noticed a gas station to her left and turned around, deciding that there was probably a payphone right outside of it.

She pulled into the station, noticing with surprise that it was closed. Whoever owned it apparently decided that it wasn't worth the trouble of staying open once it got dark. She got out of her car and jogged over to the payphone that was against the wall. She fished into her pocket for a dime as she picked up the phone and held it between her shoulder and chin. Right before she plunked the dime into the slot, she realized that there was no dial tone. She stared at the payphone in disbelief.

It was broken.

Sabrina dropped the phone in disgust, letting it fall to the length of its cord and swing loudly into the metal backing of the wall behind it. She stalked back to her car, giving the useless phone one last look. She scoffed derisvely and threw her car into reverse.

Then suddenly changed her mind.

Inside the gas station there would most likely be a telephone. Sabrina shut off the engine of her car as she considered this fact. Desperate times call for desperate measures, she decided. She jogged back to the front of the building and looked out into the highway. This wasn't a particularly busy road, it was likely no one would notice her. She climbed the three steps and stood at the front door, sizing up the lock. It wasn't complicated, she could do this. She fished in her purse, pulled out her lockpick and set to work at the door.

Fifteen minutes later, the lock clicked and she swung the door open in triumph. It was completely dark inside the station and she decided to keep it that way. It wouldn't do her any good to have a customer come by and try to buy something. She groped around the counter and found a telephone. Relieved, she dialed Jill's car phone.

Jill picked up on the first ring.

"Bri. What's up?" she said quickly, her tone hopeful.

"Not much, Jill. Something about 78. Might be a new warehouse. Might be nothing. I'm out here near where you are. I'm at a gas station. You got anything?"

"Maybe. I overheard two guys talking earlier at the same station that you're at. I'll meet you there in thirty minutes, alright?"

"Ok, Jill." Sabrina said. She bit her lip. "The gas station is kind of closed, though. The lights are off, but I'm in here."

Jill was silent for a moment before answering.

"I assume you will explain that to me when I get there?"

"Yeah."

"I'm on my way."

Jill hung up, leaving Sabrina alone in the darkness of the empty gas station. She sighed and buried her face in her hands as she took a seat behind the counter. The dark stillness of the gas station should have helped with calming her nerves, but it didn't.

Nothing could help right now.


	18. Chapter 17

**so... Kelly gets her knee hurt. The next day I smash up my knee playing broom hockey. Then she gets into a car wreck. A few days later I get into a wreck. (minor accident and not my car so save your tears) Needless to say, Kelly will soon be winning the lottery and meeting a hot guy. Just sayin'...**

**Anyway...I'm on vacation for the rest of the week and I'm out of things to do so here's another chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 17

Faint unidentifiable noises and then finally voices slowly made their way through the gray haze in Kelly's head. She slowly opened her eyes.

Disoriented, it took her several confusing moments before she realized she was upside down. Kelly blinked her eyes and tried to focus her vision. The pain in her head was excruciating. Curious as to how badly she was hurt, she tried to reach her right arm up to her head and immediately sucked in a sharp breath. Her wrist was broken, she couldn't move it. Trembling, she reached with her other hand to touch the source of the pain. She winced as she rested her hand against her head. The area around the wound was wet and sticky with blood, tiny fragments of broken glass caught in her hair and sparkling in the fading evening light. Her fingers gingerly discovered the deep gash on the left side of her head. It was bleeding profusely and making nearly her entire face sticky with blood. She reached a hand to her seatbelt and fumbled with it, fighting the pain caused by the several lacerations on her arm and hand. Finally, she succeeded. Her action was immediately regretted when she came tumbling down into the roof of the car, no longer supported by the belt.

She cried out shrilly in pain. Her right shoulder was either broken or dislocated, it was hard to tell. It was bent at an odd, disturbing angle and causing her indescribable suffering. She took a deep breath to steady herself and then gasped in pain as her ribs discouraged that course of action as well. Kelly rolled onto her side and looked towards the left rear window. It had been completely shattered and looked to be the only means of escape from the car. She swallowed hard as she looked around the crushed interior of the car. Had she been sitting anywhere else, she would certainly have been killed.

She slowly crawled into the backseat and out the window, dragging her injured body onto the grass outside. She lay for a moment on her back, panting and fighting the urge to close her eyes and let exhaustion overtake her. She wasn't one to ask for help, but right now she desperately needed it.

She remembered the voices she had heard and listened carefully. Someone might be able to help her.

Or someone might be looking for her to make sure she was dead.

Kelly dragged herself into a thick clump of bushes and waited again for the voices, deciding to show herself only if she was certain they belonged to a Good Samaritan. She didn't have to wait long.

"Look, there's the car." the first man shouted.

Twigs and leaves crunched under their feet as they jogged over to it.

"Oh, she's gotta be dead, man." a second voice said.

Kelly heard the two men come uncomfortably close to her hiding spot. She held her breath and waited.

"Shit!" she heard the second voice say.

"What?"

"She's gone!"

"What do you mean, gone?"

"What the hell do you think I mean, she's fucking gone!" The second man's voice was shrill and panicked.

Kelly shrank back, grateful that her cynical nature had saved her.

"Look around, she couldn't have gone too far."

Kelly held her breath, and prayed they wouldn't come her way. The two men began searching in the opposite direction of her. Kelly waited until they were far enough away that she felt safe crawling out of her hiding place.

She looked around, trying to get her bearings. There was no way she could climb the steep hill that led back to the freeway in her condition. She would have to stay down here. There was a gas station on this side of the freeway only a few miles north of where she was.

She had no choice but to get there

* * *

Jill sped along the highway, nervously drumming her fingers against the steering wheel. She still had no idea where the shack was, only that it was off of the highway and about thirty minutes north of Los Angeles. Encouraged by her encounter with the Cadillac, she renewed her search in the direction the two men had come from. There might be a chance that she could see it from the road.

She eyed the dense forest on either side of the highway with a frown. Not a good chance, but it was still there.

After driving north from the gas station for twenty minutes, she began to get the uneasy feeling that she had passed it. She took the next exit and changed direction, heading south.

Jill tested every exit again, driving a few miles in each direction. After an hour, she was feeling frustrated and hopeless. She could never hope to find her friend this way. There was simply too much ground to cover.

Tears stung at her eyes. She felt so helpless.

Her phone rang and she quickly jerked it up. Had Sabrina found anything?

"Bri, what's up?" she answered hopefully.

"Not much, Jill. Something about 78. Might be the new warehouse. Might be nothing. I'm out here near where you are. I'm at a gas station. You got anything?"

Jill frowned as her hopes were again dashed.

"Maybe. I overheard two guys talking at the same gas station that you're at. I'll meet you there in thirty minutes, alright?" There they could plan their attack. If she couldn't find her friend at least she could bring her captors to justice, she decided.

She finished talking to Sabrina and drove back towards the run down gas station, feeling angry and miserable. As she drove, she caught sight of dark skid marks leading off of the road. Lost in her thoughts, she initially paid no attention to them.

Suddenly she slammed on her brakes.

The Cadillac.

Those men were somehow connected with Kelly. Her stomach tightened and she threw her car in reverse, ignoring the one way policy of the two lane highway. She stopped on the shoulder of the road and jumped out of her car.

A closer look revealed several sets of skid marks. Jill furrowed her brow, trying to make sense of them.

What had happened here?

Had there been more than one car? Jill looked around for evidence of an accident. She spotted a piece of red plastic in the tall grass by the side of the road. Part of a taillight? She grew uneasy as she looked down into the dense thicket of trees that were on the side of the highway.

Jill followed the tracks and frowned when she noticed the steep embankment. It was nearly 8:30 and the gloomy darkness made it hard to see what was down there. She ran back to her car and grabbed a flash light from the glove compartment.

Now prepared, she carefully lowered herself down the embankment into the trees. She shone her light around, not completely sure what she was looking for. Bright lights suddenly reflected back in her eyes as she passed the beam over the area. Jill lowered her light and was alarmed to see a car, nearly hidden by the undergrowth. The car was upside down, its entire side curved around a splintered tree trunk.

She rushed towards it and slid to her knees, trying to get a glimpse of anyone inside it.

The car was empty.

Jill sighed in frustration and looked around. The car was the same shade of green as the scrape on the side of the Cadillac. It was very likely that the two vehicles had collided. Had Kelly been in this car? This hadn't happened too long ago either. The car's hood was still warm to the touch and the tree looked freshly split. She noticed the open window and decided to look inside.

Jill dropped to all fours and peered inside the crushed interior of the little car. She gasped in shock. There was blood smeared on the steering wheel, the headrest and the roof of the car. Her previous hope that Kelly was down here quickly vanished. She hoped to God that Kelly hadn't been in this car. Her eyes scanned the interior once more.

Her heart stopped when she noticed a scrap of black fabric stuck on the shards of glass on the window frame.

She plucked it up and studied it carefully. Kelly had been wearing a black jacket when she took her home. She distinctly remembered helping her out of it and tossing it on the couch in the living room. Sick with dread, Jill dropped to the ground, crawled inside of the car and groped around carefully. Her hand touched something soft and she clutched it and pulled it out of the car.

It was Kelly's jacket.

Jill emitted a low moan of despair and dropped it to the ground. She wiped her hand on her jeans. Though it wasn't immediately obvious on the dark fabric, a closer look revealed the shoulders, collar and sleeves of the jacket were stained with blood.

Something horrible had happened to Kelly.

Jill sat for a moment, frightened tears welling up in her eyes. Had she been in the car? And if she had, where was she? Not knowing the answers made her frantic with worry. She looked around again. If Kelly had been able to walk away from the accident, she couldn't have gone far. She began combing the area for any trace of her friend

* * *

Kelly stumbled and collapsed to the ground. She lay for few moments panting, bleeding, and drenched with sweat. The two mile hike would have ordinarily taken her a little over twenty minutes, but in her badly injured condition was turning into hours.

She rolled over on her side as she felt a violent wave of nausea overtake her. Her ribs screamed their protest as she threw up in the dirt and grass. The pain was almost unbearable and making her sick. She wiped her mouth and shakily attempted to stand up again. It couldn't be much further now.

Kelly pulled herself to her feet and continued staggering in the direction of the gas station. A few minutes later, she collapsed again and this time found she couldn't get up. After several failed attempts, Kelly reached her uninjured hand to her head and winced in pain. She felt so dizzy. So tired. All she wanted to do was lie down and sleep, but to do that would be committing suicide. The two men were still searching the woods for her and if she let herself rest too long, they would surely find her. Unable to stand, she crawled forward determinedly.

Ten agonizing minutes later, she came into view of the gas station. She sighed in relief. Once she got to the front of the building, she could get help and then contact Sabrina and Jill. Her body was quickly giving out on her, and she tried to reach her destination as quickly as possible.

Her strength held out just long enough for her to drag herself up the front steps. She groaned in dismay as she realized that in her hurry, she hadn't noticed that the lights were all out. The station was closed and no one was there to help her, she realized with dread. This blow was enough to utterly demoralize her. Her legs buckled and she fell into the front door. Kelly desperately clung to consciousness, not wanting to be left out helpless in the open. If only she could drag herself to the back of the store where she could hide. She was fading fast, but kicked her leg weakly in an attempt to propell herself forward and away from the front door. Her shoes slid uselessly against the smooth wood of the porch, gaining her nothing for her efforts. Kelly gritted her teeth against the gray haze that was again enveloping her and with the last of her strength she attempted to pull herself up, but failed as she slid to the ground and into darkness.

* * *

Sabrina was frantically pacing up and down the length of the gas station waiting for Jill.

Bosley hadn't called Jill, which meant he had no news to give them. Even with her and Jill's combined efforts, they still hadn't found Kelly. The police were notified and the sting would begin at midnight as planned. But without Kelly, there might not be a chance at a confession.

Unless she had been killed, then it was likely they could link him to her murder.

Sabrina shuddered, and pushed the thought away. She was a realist, however, and knew that the chances that Kelly was dead were very high. People like the ones they were dealing with rarely left witnesses alive.

She sighed in frustration. She had never felt so helpless in her life.

Sabrina froze in place as she heard a thump at the door. She perked up, expecting Jill to walk in. When she didn't, she began to grow uneasy. Who was at the door? She made her way to the window and peeked outside. When she didn't see anybody, she shrugged it off and resumed her pacing.

A few minutes later, she was unable to shake off the feeling that she should check on the door. She decidedly rushed toward it and turned the doorknob. She stepped back, puzzled. The door wouldn't open. She tried again and realized that something was blocking it from the other side. She put her shoulder to the door and pushed until she felt the heavy weight give way, then stuck her head outside.

She looked down and yelped in surprise. There was someone lying by the door. Her stomach dropped.

Sabrina squeezed her way outside, torn between hoping and dreading that the woman lying unconscious by the door was Kelly. Even before she was all the way outside, she knew with certainty she had found her friend. She didn't feel the joy that she thought she would upon seeing Kelly again. Her throat tightened as she knelt by her side. The first thing she had noticed was the blood. Kelly was covered with blood.

Sabrina let out a soft curse and checked her pulse with a shaky hand. It was still strong. She exhaled in relief and wasted no time in dragging Kelly inside.

No longer caring if she could be seen from the road, Sabrina flicked on the lights. In the light of the gas station, her friend's injuries were more pronounced and evidence of what had happened to her began to come to light. Noticing her bruised knuckles, Sabrina gently lifted Kelly's right hand. She was alarmed to see that the wrist was broken. Kelly had been in a fight and from the looks of it had lost. It must not have been a very fair fight. Her wrists had rope burns on them and there was a bloody rolled up handkerchief around her neck indicating she had been bound and gagged. Her clothes were torn, dirty, and stained with blood. There was bits of glass in her hair and clothes. She had obviously escaped from being held captive somewhere.

Sabrina's face darkened in anger. Whoever had her had beaten her badly. She had cuts, scrapes, and bruises all over her face, her lip busted and her left eye swollen shut. Her arm was bent at an unnatural angle and her breathing was labored. Sabrina quickly rushed over to the back room, rummaging for anything that could possibly function as medical supplies. She was pleased to see that whoever owned the gas station was prepared for an emergency. She returned with a first aid kit, some towels, a cup of water, and a blanket. Kelly needed medical attention and as soon as she made her comfortable, they were going to a hospital. The police could handle the sting on their own, she decided.

She gently cleaned Kelly's face, the absence of blood and dirt revealing even more nasty cuts and bruises. There was blood running down her face from a gash on her head. Sabrina pressed several pieces of gauze on the wound and tied it in place with a bandage. That would have to do until she got Kelly to a hospital. Her shirt was stained with blood, so Sabrina lifted it to check for any puncture wounds. Though she was relieved that there didn't seem to be any, she wished she hadn't seen the horrible bruising on Kelly's ribs and abdomen. Someone had really worked her over.

Sabrina felt angry tears sting at her eyes. She clenched her jaw. Whoever had done this would pay.

She quickly shook off the rising fury and focused on Kelly. Her friend needed her help. She wrapped her in the blanket and let her head rest against her outstretched leg.

"Kell? Can you hear me?" she said gently, stroking her damp hair. When Kelly didn't respond, Sabrina reached into the first aid kit and pulled out some smelling salts. She opened the bottle and waved it in front of Kelly's nose.

Kelly immediately made a face and pushed it away. Sabrina sighed in relief, whispering a prayer of thanks as Kelly opened her eyes.

"Hey, don't try to move, ok?" she said, pressing her hand lightly on Kelly's chest.

Kelly looked around, bewildered. Her gaze finally settled on Sabrina. "Bri?"

"Yeah, Kell. It's me, just relax." Sabrina soothed.

"You're ok." Kelly whispered weakly. It seemed to be a great deal of effort for her to talk.

Sabrina smiled and gently placed her hand on Kelly's cheek. "Yeah, I'm fine. You're the one on the floor, Kell." she teased. Her look became serious. "What happened?"

"Jill? Where's Jill?" Kelly murmured, ignoring her question. Sabrina frowned. Kelly wasn't in the frame of mind to answer her questions right now. She was injured and upset. And probably in shock. She needed to calm down and rest.

"Out looking for you. Just lie still, ok?"

"Is she alright?"

"She's fine, Kelly. Shhh, don't talk." Sabrina hushed, cupping her hand gently over Kelly's mouth.

Kelly looked distressed. She nervously glanced around the room.

"Shhh. It's ok, Kelly. You're safe here." Sabrina whispered soothingly, in an attempt to calm her.

Kelly's eyes suddenly opened wide and she frantically shook her head. "No, they're coming! We need to get out of here!" she said urgently. She made a weak attempt at getting up, gritting her teeth through the pain radiating from her side and shoulder.

Sabrina easily pushed her back down. "Whoa, take it easy. You're hurt, Kell. I'm taking you to the hospital, alright?"

Kelly shook her head. "No, Bri! We have to stop them!" Her words were slurred together and difficult to understand. Sabrina frowned and firmly held her struggling friend to the ground.

"Kelly." she said sternly. "Calm down." She repeated herself until her friend stopped thrashing and lay still, panting and whimpering in distress.

When she had settled down, Sabrina let her go. "Good girl, just lie still. Who's coming?" she asked softly, so as not to excite her.

Kelly sighed loudly in frustration. "Bri, we need to get out of here now, they're coming."

Sabrina nodded and sensing her agitation, gently stroked her hair again. "Calm down. Who's coming?"

"Peralta's men. They followed me."

Sabrina clenched her teeth in anger. She hadn't thought it was possible to hate the man more than she already did. "Peralta did this to you?"

"And a tree."

Deciding not to further inquire about her friend's last statement, she wrapped the blanket more tightly around Kelly's body to restrain her and slipped an arm under her shoulders.

"Ok, we're going to the hospital now. Can you sit up?"

A sharp knock at the door interrupted them.

Kelly shot Sabrina a panicked look. Sabrina lowered her back to the ground and jumped to her feet. She spied a folding table loaded with snack food by the front counter and she rushed toward it and dragged it until it was directly over Kelly. She reached down and covered her friend completely with the blanket.

"Don't you dare make a sound." she said sternly, pointing a finger at Kelly's face.

Kelly nodded weakly and Sabrina pulled the blanket over her face. With her gun in hand, she walked over to the door and peeked through the window. She nearly collapsed with relief when she saw it was Jill. Muttering to herself, she unlocked the door to let her in.

Jill burst into the room, her face a tear stained mess.

"Bri, something happened to Kelly. I found her jacket in a wrecked car. There's blood everywhere and I can't find her. I think they killed her." she wailed.

Sabrina closed the door and locked it before turning back to Jill.

"She's ok, Jill. She's here."

Jill stared at her in disbelief, then looked around the gas station in confusion. Kelly made her presence known by squirming under her blanket. Jill squealed in delight and rushed over to her friend.

"Oh, Kelly. Thank God!" she breathed, her voice breaking. She threw her arms around her and peppered her covered head with kisses before she heard Kelly's stifled mew of pain. She released her immediately, with a look of horror on her face as she noticed her condition for the first time.

"Jesus Christ, what happened to you? Are you ok?" she breathed, running her fingers over her friend's battered face.

"She will be when we get her to a hospital. Help me carry her." Sabrina said, coming from behind them.

Kelly shook her head again. "Jill, we need to stop them. There's no time, we have to go now."

Jill gasped as she remembered what she had learned earlier.

"Bri, the drop is going to be earlier. At ten instead of twelve. And at warehouse seventy eight just like you said. They figured we tipped the cops."

Sabrina looked at her watch.

9:26

"We can call on the way to the hospital."

"No, we have to go! We need to make sure, we won't get another chance!" Kelly argued. She sat up and cried out in pain. Jill caught her before she toppled to the floor and pulled her into her lap, wrapping her arms around her as tightly as she dared to keep her from moving anymore. Kelly protested, but quickly gave up and slumped into her in resignation.

"You're not going anywhere, Kelly." Sabrina said firmly. She looked at Jill. "I'll go to the warehouse, you take her to the hospital."

Kelly and Jill immediately objected.

"You can't go alone!"

"She needs to get to a hospital, Jill, and we only have thirty minutes, we need to split up!" Sabrina countered.

"Bri, you're not going alone. I'm going with you." Jill argued.

"And leave her here? There's men looking for her and she can't defend herself." Sabrina said heatedly.

Jill scoffed. "Of course not. We'll drop her off and go together."

Sabrina sighed in frustration. "There's not enough time!"

"Then take me with you." Kelly volunteered. Her friends ignored her, still arguing with each other.

"You are not going alone, Sabrina." Jill said firmly.

"Fine. But I don't know what you want me to do, Jill. We can't take her with us."

Kelly listened to them argue and tried several times to speak, but couldn't get a word in edgewise. They were wasting time. Finally, she raised her hand like a child in class. Amazingly, Sabrina and Jill stopped arguing and turned to her in confusion.

Finally.

"Leave me in the car. I'll stay there, I promise." Kelly suggested.

Sabrina and Jill both stared at her.

Kelly winced in pain and sat up. "There's no time to take me anywhere and neither of you are going alone. I'll stay in the car and be by the phone. But we have to go now!"

Sabrina cursed loudly.

"Fine. Jill, help me carry her."

The two girls helped Kelly to Jill's car and laid her down in the backseat, still wrapped in her blanket. Jill jumped into the backseat after her and Sabrina took the wheel.

It was 9:40 and they had twenty minutes to get back to the warehouse.

* * *

Lieutenant Michaels was sitting anxiously at his desk finishing up some paper work when his phone rang. He looked at it, dreading who would be on the other line. Christ, what now?

With a shaky hand he picked it up. "Lieutenant Michaels." he answered.

"Lieutenant, this is Sabrina Duncan with Townsend Associates." the young female voice responded. He shut his eyes tight and sighed to himself. He was expecting the call and dreaded what he had to do once he hung up with her.

"There's been a change of plan." Sabrina went on. She sounded stressed and anxious. Michaels leaned his head against the wall as he listened to her talk.

"Peralta is meeting at ten tonight in warehouse number seventy eight instead of fifty nine. We're on our way, meet us there."

Michaels swallowed hard and drummed his fingers anxiously against his desk. "Alright, Ms. Duncan. My team is on their way." he said. He heard the line go dead on her side and wearily hung up the phone.

He sat quietly for a few minutes, his conscience guiltily gnawing at him. Arturo Peralta had been paying him off for years now to evade capture. For years he had discreetly tampered with evidence,altered crime scenes, bribed witnesses, and given alibies for the man and his partners.

This was the first time he would actually going to cause someone's death. He let out a shaky breath and took a gulp out of the bottle of antacid that was sitting on his desk.

Those two girls were going to die. One of them was already dead from the looks of it. And they seemed like such nice girls.

He picked up the phone and dialed the all too familiar number. A gruff male voice answered.

"They figured it out. Cancel everything. They're on their way." Michaels said quietly. The man grunted and hung up the phone.

Michaels sat back in his chair still holding the phone, the dial tone buzzing loudly in his ear. After a few moments, he hung it up.

He took another gulp of the antacid. What Peralta had asked him to do was going to be the hardest thing he had ever done before.

Absolutely nothing.


	19. Chapter 18

**In keeping with my stroke of recent bad luck, I got the worst haircut of my life and my boss added me on facebook. Buzzkill. **

**Anyway, vacation ends tomorrow so enjoy**

* * *

Chapter 18

"Bri, watch the bumps. You're hurting her." Jill said tersely. She was sitting in the backseat, Kelly's head resting in her lap, holding a towel over the still bleeding wound on her friend's head.

Kelly shut her eyes tight and gritted her teeth. "Just drive, Bri." she muttered.

"First you take a beating and then you get in a wreck. God, Kell you're so lucky." Jill mused.

Kelly opened her eyes and shot her an incredulous look. "Lucky?" she echoed.

Jill shook her head. "Not lucky that it happened. Lucky that-" She gave up, flustered by both Kelly and Sabrina's questioning looks and leaned back in her seat. "Yeah, you're right. Shut up, Jill." she sighed.

"Bri?" Kelly called out, turning her head away from Jill.

"Yeah, Kell." Sabrina answered without turning her head.

"I've had a bad day. Hit her for me."

"As soon as we stop."

Jill smiled and patted Kelly's cheek affectionately. "Are you in alot of pain, Kell?" she asked gently.

Kelly made a face. "Just enough."

"I'm sorry, Kelly. Hang in there, it'll all be over soon." Jill reassured her, smoothing back the hair matted to her forehead.

"I hope so." Sabrina called from the front seat. "I'd like to break that bastard's neck for what he did to you."

Kelly sighed and closed her eyes. "I'll be alright. At least he didn't use a belt."

Sabrina glanced at her through the rearview mirror, not understanding her logic.

Kelly gave her a soft smile. "Hey, just looking for a silver lining."

"Hopefully putting him in jail will be the silver lining here." Sabrina responded bitterly.

They drove several more miles until they arrived at the shipyards. The time was 10:04

The girls parked in the shadows, out of sight of anybody who might be inside the new warehouse. The police would be here soon and this would all be over. Sabrina and Jill jumped out of the car, sticking their guns inside the waist of their pants.

Jill opened the back door and crouched to look Kelly in the face.

"Here." she said, pressing the car keys into Kelly's uninjured hand. "If something goes wrong, I want you to get out of here."

Kelly looked troubled at what her friend was implying. "Jill-" she started, but Jill was gone, Sabrina taking her place.

"Look at me, Kelly." she said firmly. "You do not leave this car. No matter what happens. Do you understand me?"

Kelly looked at Sabrina's serious expression and nodded her head.

"Say it, Kelly."

"Bri! Just go!"

"Kelly, if you don't promise me right now, I'm going to lock you in the trunk. Promise me!"

Kelly sighed. She knew better than to think her friend was exaggerating.

"I promise."

Sabrina reached over to squeeze her hand and then climbed back out, slamming the door behind her.

Kelly watched as her two best friends disappeared in the dark shadows that surrounded Warehouse 78. She eased herself into a sitting position and stared at the building feeling utterly useless. Even without losing odds and evens, she was still left in the car and powerless to help her friends when they needed it most.

It hurt more than anything else had that day.

* * *

Sabrina and Jill silently made their way towards the warehouse, guns drawn. They found an open window and peeked inside. Peralta was waiting alone. The girls studied the window and were pleased to notice that the view of it was completely blocked by several stacks of crates. The girls quickly and silently crawled through it. Obviously this location had been hastily picked and not yet looked through completely.

Now inside the warehouse, the girls crouched behind the stacks of crates and waited. It was twelve minutes past ten and the police backup should be waiting outside for their signal. Sabrina and Jill watched with disdain as Peralta paced the room and finally sat down on a nearby crate. In the car, Kelly had reluctantly given them a watered down version of what had happened after Jill dropped her off earlier that day. From the looks of her, it was worse than she was willing to let on and the two girls were furious. Sabrina took a deep breath as she watched Peralta and for a moment feared that she wouldn't be able to stop herself from acting on a violent impulse. She looked over at Jill and noticed that she had set her gun down on a crate beside her, with her hands in her pockets and an uncharacteristically dark and unsettling look on her face.

The urge to shoot Peralta on the spot was strong.

After a few minutes, two men walked inside. They looked intimidating and angry as they gathered around Peralta. The men started whispering quietly amongst themselves. Sabrina and Jill were too far away to make out anything that was being said. But that no longer mattered. Jill snapped several pictures of Peralta along with the men and an open crate of cocaine.

They had him now, she decided. And confession or not, if he weaseled his way out of a conviction, she would shoot him herself.

Sabrina quietly stuck her arm out of the window and aimed her flashlight in the air. She turned it on and off in quick succession. The police would be waiting for her signal and moving in now. The two girls waited patiently for police to swarm in.

Nothing happened.

Several minutes later, Sabrina and Jill looked at each other anxiously. Where was their backup?

Peralta looked at his watch. He suddenly stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"It appears we have company. Come on out, ladies." he announced loudly.

Sabrina and Jill both felt their stomachs flip at his unexpected acknowledgement of them. The two girls froze behind the crates, not daring to move. When they hadn't revealed themselves, Peralta began to laugh.

"Don't keep me waiting, girls." he shouted again. "Your friend Michaels let me know you were coming."

Sabrina and Jill gawked at each other in disbelief. Michaels was in on this, they realized in horror. There were no police waiting outside. It had all been a deliberate trap. Jill gestured wildly to the closest exit and the girls quickly turned and headed for the window. Anticipating their flight, Peralta rushed toward their hiding place and squeezed off two shots. The bullets lodged themselves into the wall directly over Jill's shoulder and the girls froze in place, trapped.

"Now, now. Don't run off, you just got here." Peralta taunted. He waved his gun at them. "Hands in the air, where I can see them."

Sabrina and Jill shared a look and then did what he asked.

"Now come here." Peralta ordered. "Without your weapons if you please."

Sabrina and Jill set down their guns and walked over to him, standing nervously side by side. Peralta smiled and looked them over, nodding his head in appreciation.

"Ah, Ms. Duncan." he said admiringly. His pleasant expression quickly contorted into one of pure rage and he swung his gun angrily at Sabrina, catching her in the face. She cried out and fell to the floor. Jill instinctively dropped to her side, but Peralta grabbed her by her hair and roughly yanked her away. Appearing to be mildly annoyed, he looked at one of the men standing idly and gestured wearily to the thrashing Jill. The man nodded his head and yanked her off the floor, twisting her arms behind her back to render her helpless.

Sabrina shook her head, trying to recover from the sudden blow. She stared up at Peralta.

"Thought you were smart, didn't you?" he sneered at her. He aimed a kick at her ribs, sending her sprawling back to the ground.

"Get up!" he yelled at her.

Wincing in pain and clutching her side, Sabrina slowly rose to her knees. Deciding that she wasn't getting up fast enough, Peralta slapped her viciously across her face, sending her right back to the floor. Once she was down, Peralta sent several angry kicks in her direction. Sabrina cried out in pain and curled into a ball to protect herself from the onslaught as Jill watched in horror.

"Leave her alone, you bastard!" she screamed desperately, struggling against the man holding her.

Peralta stopped his assault and stared back at Jill, a cruel smile spreading across his face. He stopped kicking Sabrina and slowly approached her .

"You don't like this?" he asked sweetly. "Maybe if you behave yourself, you'll get much-" He cupped her cheek in his hand. "-nicer treatment." he finished suggestively.

Jill went wild, bucking and thrashing against her captor in an attempt to get her hands on Peralta.

He laughed at her effort and suddenly drove his fist into her stomach. Jill gasped in pain and slumped forward, coughing and gagging. Peralta turned his gaze back to Sabrina, who was slowly pulling herself in a sitting position, a grimace of pain on her face.

"Sore, Ms. Duncan?" he called out to her. She glared at him and said nothing.

"I had a similar conversation with your friend, Kelly."

Sabrina and Jill shared a look.

"Haven't heard from her have you?" Peralta said with a grin. "Well, you won't. She's dead."

Sabrina and Jill looked at each other again. He didn't know about Kelly. If they could only signal her, she could call for help. That wasn't looking possible at the moment however. The situation was not in their favor.

"I guess you expected that much, then." Peralta remarked, not seeing the shock and grief that he had been looking for.

"I know what to expect from a murderer." Sabrina spat at him.

Peralta backhanded her angrily, sending her back to the ground. Before she could get up, he slammed his heel into her stomach, earning a cry of pain from Sabrina. He then pressed his foot against her throat. She clawed desperately at him, but was unable to free herself. Finally, she lay still, conserving her energy and waiting for a chance to strike back.

Peralta was unwilling to give one to her.

"What's your name, princess?" he called sweetly to Jill.

Jill swore angrily at him.

Peralta chuckled. "Well, that's a terrible name for a young lady." he teased her. He put pressure on Sabrina's throat. She coughed and choked as she struggled to breathe.

"Jill. My name is Jill Munroe." Jill answered quickly, seeing her lack of cooperation was causing Sabrina pain.

"Ah, that's better." Peralta cooed. "Come here, Jill. And behave yourself." he added, pointing his gun at Sabrina.

The man holding Jill released her and, with no other choice, she walked warily over to Peralta and stood before him.

"Get on your knees, Jill." Peralta ordered calmly.

Jill hesitated for a moment and Peralta sighed wearily and again put weight on Sabrina's windpipe. Sabrina gurgled and gasped painfully for air, her breaths raspy and shallow.

Jill quickly dropped to her knees. "Ok, I'm sorry. Stop it. Stop hurting her." she blurted out frantically.

Peralta relaxed his foot and Sabrina coughed and gagged as she sucked air into her lungs.

"Turn around, princess." Peralta ordered Jill. Learning her lesson, Jill did as she was told. Peralta leveled his gun at the back of her head. Jill shut her eyes tight and braced herself.

"No!" Sabrina wailed loudly, kicking desperately as she tried to free herself.

Her struggle amused Peralta and he laughed derisively at her.

"No? Are you jealous, Ms. Duncan?"

Sabrina continued to fight him, ignoring his question.

"I have something much better planned for you, trust me. But first I want to make sure your friend isn't in the way." he said casually. He removed his foot and Sabrina leaped to her feet and lunged at him. She stopped in her tracks when Peralta pressed his gun to the back of Jill's head again.

"Temper, temper, Ms. Duncan. On your knees as well, please."

Sabrina sank to her knees in defeat.

Peralta laughed again. "I'm not such a bad guy. I'll even let you say goodbye. Here, you can come kneel next to your friend so you can watch." he offered, gesturing to a spot at Jill's left.

Sabrina crawled towards Jill and knelt beside her.

"I'm sorry." she whispered softly to Jill, her voice cracking.

Jill shook her head, dismissing her friend's apology. She tried to smile. "At least we're together." she whispered sadly.

"What? Talk louder, we can't hear you!" Peralta crowed. He shoved Jill's head to the side.

"C'mon, blondie, what did you say?" he taunted her.

"She said go to hell." Sabrina shot at him.

Peralta smiled. "Eventually. Maybe I'll see you there."

He aimed his gun at Jill.

"Watch carefully, Ms. Duncan."

* * *

Kelly fidgeted impatiently inside the car. Shouldn't backup have arrived already? She looked at the clock.

10:22

They had been in there nearly twenty minutes. Where was everyone? She looked out the window hopefully, waiting for something to happen.

She jumped in surprise when the car phone suddenly rang, smacking her head against the roof of the car. She yelped and tumbled back into her seat, cursing loudly as her shoulder protested her sudden movements. Wincing in pain, she snatched the phone up.

"Kelly Garrett." she said quickly. The sound of her voice surprised her. It was weak and nearly unrecognizable.

"Where have you girls been?" the irritated voice shouted back at her. She recognized it as Officer Summers. "I've been trying to get a hold of you and Michaels for hours. Is this some kind of joke?"

Though she was usually very polite, the stress of the day had shortened her fuse considerably and she exploded at the officer.

"Where the hell are you?! We said 10 and it's nearly 10:30 and you idiots aren't here!"

She lay back for moment, struck by a wave of dizziness from the effort of yelling.

The voice on the other line was silent for a moment.

"You said midnight, Ms. Garrett."

Kelly felt the urge to punch him.

"We called and said it was ten just a few minutes ago!"

"No one called us." he insisted.

Kelly was about to tear into him again when she suddenly paused, sickening realization washing over her. Had this been a trap?

"Just get over here!" she yelled at the officer.

"Look, ma'am, we can't afford to just be driving aimlessly around town, we have things to do and chasing false tips doesn't get them done." he shot back at her.

She hadn't heard it, though. Against Sabrina's wishes, she had crawled out of the car and was limping as quickly as she could towards the window she had seen Sabrina and Jill enter the warehouse through. She leaned against the wall and peered inside.

Her breath caught in her throat. Her friends were in trouble.

Peralta had Sabrina on the ground, his foot on her throat. Kelly watched as Jill lowered herself onto her knees in front of him. When she saw Peralta raise a gun to her head, she tore herself away and rushed back to the car.

With adrenaline pumping through her, her pain was momentarily forgotten and she nearly ran back to the car. He was going to kill them, she thought frantically. The cops weren't here and she didn't have any kind of weapon. She slammed both her fists into the steering wheel, trying to think of a way to help them. A wild idea suddenly popped into her head and she impulsively decided to act on it.

There was no time for anything else.

The back wall was aluminum and could probably be easily destroyed. There were two men were standing several feet away from it. She herself was in no condition to help, but maybe she could provide Sabrina and Jill with a distraction.

Kelly started the car and lined herself up with the back wall. This was insane, but it was all she had. If she didn't act now, she would lose the only two people she loved. But, she was sure they wouldn't mind her help.

And she was technically not going to break Sabrina's rule. Kelly slammed her foot on the accelerator and braced herself for impact as she flew nearer and nearer to the back wall of the warehouse.

Two car accidents in one day.

If they got out of this alive, she would definitely need to remember to ask for a raise.


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Jill took a deep breath, sensing Peralta's movements behind her. She glanced at Sabrina, who met her gaze for an instant and then turned away. She knew without a doubt that Sabrina would act the moment she did. She waited tensely for Peralta, trying to figure out just the right moment before he pulled the trigger.

"I'ts almost a shame to be wasting such a beautiful woman. Too bad we don't have time to get to know each other better, princess." he said coolly. Jill heard the hammer click back.

Jill tensed and prepared herself for action, her heart pounding furiously in her chest.

A split second later, the back wall suddenly exploded into the warehouse with a booming crash, the earsplitting squeal of tires and twisting metal causing her to whip her head around in terror. The cries of surprise from the two men who had been standing by were disturbingly cut short as a chunk of wall barreled into them powered by some unseen force, crushing them to the floor.

A speeding car had just caved in the entire back wall and skidded past her. It spun around and screeched to a halt as it crashed into a wall of crates, the engine still running.

Jill snapped out of her shock and leaped to her feet. Peralta was still holding the gun where she had been kneeling moments before, a look of shocked disbelief etched on his face, his brain still registering what had just happened. He hadn't even noticed that Jill had moved.

She sent a flying right hook at his face as hard as she could. He grunted in surprise and lurched to the side, momentarily off balance. Jill struck again, kneeing him in the groin. Peralta dropped the gun and fell to his knees. He swatted at Jill, who nimbly dodged his blow and sent a crippling karate chop to the side of his neck.

Peralta crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

"Jill!" Sabrina cried as she grabbed her friend's shoulder. She had watched in stunned silence as Jill took down Peralta and had just recovered from the shock of the past few seconds.

Jill whirled around, still pumped with adrenaline and ready to fight. She swung her fist blindly in Sabrina's direction, not realizing who she was in the heat of the moment.

"Whoa! It's me!" Sabrina cried, taking a quick step backwards to dodge the blow. Jill exhaled loudly and threw her arms around friend.

"Are you ok?" Jill whispered in Sabrina's ear.

"Yeah, I'm ok." Sabrina answered quickly. Jill pulled away from her to get a better look. Sabrina's lip was bleeding and she had a nasty gash on her cheek where Peralta hit her with his gun, but otherwise seemed to be fine. She reached up and brushed her hand alone the gash on Sabrina's face. "Are you sure?" she pressed, a concerned expression on her face.

Sabrina pulled away. "I'm sure."

The two girls looked around the demolished warehouse. Dust was still settling in the air around them. The car had brought down the entire back wall on top of Peralta's cronies. The girls cringed at the sight. The men most likely wouldn't be getting up any time soon. If it all. Their gaze fixed on the car, which was idling as it rested against the splintered wood of the crates it had destroyed. They both suddenly realized that it was Jill's car.

"Kelly's not in the car, is she?" Sabrina asked, her tone laced with dread.

Jill shook her head slowly. "I don't know. I'll look." she said softly. She certainly hoped she wasn't.

Peralta groaned and started to raise to his knees. Sabrina glowered at him and stomped hard on his back, sending him crashing back to the ground.

"Pig." she spat. She ripped his neck tie off and, pinning him down with a knee to his shoulder blades, grabbed his arms and tied them tightly behind him. Peralta hardly protested.

Jill fearfully approached the car, afraid of what she might find. As she neared it, it became obvious that there was someone inside. Somebody that wasn't moving.

"Oh, Kelly." Jill breathed. She rushed towards the car and put her face against the window. The glass was cracked, making it hard to see much more than an outline. She ran around to the other side of the car and found the window in the same condition. This one could be broken without hurting Kelly, though. Without thinking, Jill threw her elbow into it, shattering the rest of the glass. She pressed on it, until it fell away, inside the car.

The glass no longer obstructing her view, she peered inside. Kelly was slumped forward unconscious, her head and chest against the steering wheel. Jill threw the door open and crawled over to her friend, carefully avoiding the broken glass. She swallowed hard and reached a hand to Kelly's throat, wincing when her friend's skin felt wet with blood. She whispered a quick prayer and pressed two fingers along her neck.

There was a pulse and Jill could not have been more relieved.

"She's alive, Bri." she called out shakily.

"God, she's in there?!" Sabrina cried.

"Yeah." Jill answered distractedly. She gently lifted Kelly's head off of the steering wheel and leaned her back against her seat. Kelly's head lulled to the side and her limp body followed. Jill gave up and carefully lowered her to her side along the front seats. She gingerly brushed away the hair matted to Kelly's forehead, revealing a bloody scrape where her head had hit the wheel. There was already a bump forming. Jill winced and pressed her forearm to the wound, wiping away the blood with her sleeve.

"Kell, you idiot, you couldn't have taken two seconds to put your seatbelt on? How hard could that have been?" she gently chided her unconscious friend.

Noticing that Jill still hadn't emerged from the car, Sabrina started to get nervous.

"Is she ok?" she asked, her worry evident in her voice.

Jill poked her head out of the window. "She's knocked out, but she's breathing."

"That damn fool. She never listens."

"Well, technically, she followed the r-"

She was cut off when Peralta suddenly started thrashing violently, knocking Sabrina off of his back.

"Jill! Help me!" she cried, trying to keep Peralta from getting up.

Jill quickly scooted out of the car. "Wait there, Kell." she called needlessly. She hurried over to where Peralta was wrestling with Sabrina, scooping up the gun that he had dropped along the way. She knelt down and stuck the barrel between his eyes. His eyes widened in surprise.

"You know, I really dislike you. There is absolutely nothing I would love more than to blow your head off, right now. So keep right on fighting so I have a reason." she threatened in a bubbly, pleasant voice.

Peralta glared at her and stopped struggling.

"Thanks, princess." Jill said with a happy grin. Sabrina sighed and sat down on the floor, letting Jill handle Peralta for a moment.

"So, how much were you going to make off of this little scheme of yours." she asked.

Peralta said nothing.

"You know, you beat up my friend for not answering your questions. That makes me very angry." Jill said casually. She cocked the gun. "Very, very angry. And when I get angry, sometimes I just can't control myself." She gave Peralta a chilling smile that made even Sabrina feel uneasy.

"But why control myself when I have no witnesses and a loaded pistol?" she finished quietly.

Peralta paled and started to talk.

"Fifteen, twenty million." he grumbled.

Sabrina whistled. "That's a lot of cash. How many dealers did you have to give a rain check to tonight? Obviously you were only here to catch us."

"A lot." Peralta answered evasively. He let out a high pitched scream when Jill fired the gun into the air.

"Oh, it slipped. I hate when that happens." she said in a sugary sweet voice. She leveled the gun at his head. "You can just never tell if it'll happen again."

Peralta started to sweat, believing Jill to have lost her mind. "Eleven. That I know of. More might have shown up."

"And you'll gladly give us their names?" Jill asked.

Peralta shrank back from her. "Gladly." he agreed.

"Good idea, princess." Jill remarked in a condescending tone.

Sabrina stood and roughly grabbed Peralta's arm. "Ok, get up. We have places to go."

Peralta stood and walked over to the car where Sabrina kept the gun trained on him. Jill climbed inside and called for a police car and ambulance on the car phone. Kelly still lay unconscious on the front seat. Jill squeezed her hand.

"Hang in there, Kell. Help is coming."

Not knowing how badly she was injured, she decided to leave her in the car until the paramedics arrived. She made her comfortable and climbed out to wait with Sabrina.

"Ok, cops are on their way." she sang.

Peralta looked away, clearly still in disbelief at having been brought down.

"So, you gonna tell us why you killed Lisa Conrad, and all of those people?" Sabrina asked coolly.

Peralta turned and shot her a look of irritated bewilderment. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh come on, Artie. Why did you kill the Moretti brother?"

"I didn't kill anybody." he spat at her.

"We found your watch at Robert Moretti's house. Where is he?"

"How should I know?"

Sabrina gave him a piteous look. "Do I have to give the gun back to her?" she said innocently, handing Jill the gun. Jill was doing an excellent job of scaring him with her act, she had decided.

Jill aimed it at his head again, watching him sweat. Her facial expression suddenly twisted into one of anguish. "He was coming for me, officer! There was nothing I could do but shoot him or he would have killed me!" she wailed, her dramatization disturbingly convincing. The threat was clear.

Peralta had never feared a woman before, but Jill terrified him to his very core.

"Look, I swear. I didn't kill those people." he countered frantically.

"So you had someone else do it for you?" Sabrina asked.

Peralta shook his head. "I swear, I don't know what you're talking about. I'll admit to the drugs and I'll give you the names, but I didn't kill anybody."

Jill scoffed. "You nearly killed our friend. You would have killed us. Why should we believe you?"

"Well, circumstances changed, didn't they." Peralta said bitterly, looking at the wrecked car. "I didn't kill anybody."

"You're lying, Artie." Sabrina warned.

Peralta glared at her. "Fuck you. I didn't k-"

Sabrina shrieked in surprise as a round red hole suddenly appeared in Peralta's forehead with a muffled popping sound. He jerked in shock and then crumpled to the ground, dead.

"Jill!" Sabrina cried, looking at her friend with wide, unbelieving eyes.

Jill's eyes darted to her gun in horror, believing for a terrifying instant that it had discharged and killed him. Her gun had not been fired, though. "Wha-?" she started in distressed confusion.

"I did it." a voice from behind them called out. The man stepped out from the shadows he had been hiding in.

Sabrina and Jill spun around and felt the blood drain from their faces as they took in the impossible sight before them.

Robert Moretti.

Back from the dead.


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

"Drop your weapons. Now." Moretti ordered in a calm, silky voice.

Sabrina and Jill stared at him in disbelief, mouths hanging open in shock.

"How-?" Jill started to say. She was cut off by the sharp retort of Moretti's gun. She and Sabrina shrieked as the bullet struck the ground a few inches away from her foot, sending up a trail of dust. They looked back up at Moretti in fear.

He gave them a twisted smile.

"I said drop your weapons. The next time I won't miss."

Sabrina decided to take a chance. She pushed Jill behind her and raised her hands in the air, her gun dangling harmlessly off of her thumb.

"Hey, look. You don't want to do this. You've had your revenge, there's no need to get yourself in any deeper. The police are already on their way." she said slowly.

Moretti stared at her and suddenly began to laugh. He bent over, shaking with hearty laughter, to rest his hands against his knees. Sabrina and Jill shared an uncomfortable look. The sound made the hairs on the back of their neck stand up. It was chilling and unsettling. The laughter of a psychopath.

Finally, Moretti threw his head back and wiped his eyes. "Maybe you need help understanding." he said through his laughter. He raised his gun and turned.

"No!" Sabrina shouted, as she realized in horror what he was going to do. Moretti ignored her and fired one shot inside the car where Kelly was lying.

Sabrina cried out and rushed him in blind fury, but he fended off her attack on one arm and shoved her backwards. She sprawled on her back on the grimy floor. Before she could get back to her feet and hurl herself at him again, Jill lunged forward and grabbed her tightly around her waist. Sabrina cursed loudly and struggled against her, but Jill's standing position gave her leverage and she held her fast. Now wasn't the time for rash actions.

Moretti laughed again at the anguished look on both girl's faces.

"I didn't shoot her." he said. Sabrina stopped struggling and she and Jill looked at him in confusion. Moretti reached inside the car through the window and grabbed a handful of Kelly's hair. He pulled her until her body was slumped against the door, her head and shoulders hanging out of the open window. She was still unconscious, but clearly not dead. Their relief didn't last long.

"See?" he said. He jammed the barrel of the gun into the top of Kelly's head and smirked. "Still alive. How long she stays that way is your decision, ladies. Now, drop your weapons." he ordered pleasantly.

Sabrina and Jill gently laid their weapons on the ground in front of them and rose to their feet, stepping backwards, away from their weapons. They couldn't risk angering him with Kelly's life at stake.

"What do you want from us?" Jill asked coldly.

Moretti smiled. "I don't want anything from you."

"Then why are you doing this?" Jill pressed. If she could just keep him talking, she could buy her and Sabrina some time until help arrived. The shipyards were out of the way and every minute she could stall could mean the difference between life and death.

"Because, Ms. Munroe, you know too much." he answered simply.

Jill and Sabrina shared a puzzled look.

Moretti threw back his head and let out a barking laugh.

"I thought you were detectives. You didn't figure it out?" he sneered at them. He clicked his tongue in disapproval.

Sabrina's eyes suddenly widened in realization.

"You did it. You weren't the one survivor. You killed them all." she said in wonder.

Moretti moved the gun away from Kelly's head to clap sarcastically.

"Oh, very good." he sneered. He leveled his weapon back at Kelly. "Yes, I was the one that ordered my brother killed. You see, I had to, Ms. Duncan. He was a threat. The others? Just unfortunate bystanders, I'm afraid."

"And Peralta?" Jill asked in a shaky voice. Her mind was reeling. The past month of their lives had all been an elaborate set up for this mad man.

Moretti grinned as he looked over at Peralta's body.

"He was a threat too. My original plan was to get rid of my brother and frame Peralta for his murder. Two birds with one stone, you see." He shook his head. "But L.A.P.D. proved themselves to be completely incompetent. That's where you fine people came in." he explained, making a sweeping gesture of the three girls with his gun.

"When I found out Tony wasn't dead, I pretended to be him and hired you to finish the job of pinning it on Peralta. But it didn't quite work out as planned. I didn't expect you to discover as much as you did and shine light on my-" He paused thoughtfully. "-operations. After awhile I had to disappear. I wasn't sure how long it would take before you found me out."

He shrugged. "Oh well, regardless of how it happens, tonight I go to bed a carefree man. No more threats."

"You're going to kill us, then?" Sabrina asked angrily.

Moretti smiled at her. "Well, I certainly wanted to kill somebody."

Keeping his gun aimed at Kelly, he backed up to where he had been standing earlier. For the first time, Sabrina and Jill noticed two large suitcases on the ground. Moretti grinned at them, lifted them both in one hand and carried them back towards the girls. Their faces went chalk white as they realized what the suitcases contained.

"Bombs?" Jill guessed weakly.

"Oh, so smart, Jill." he said in a patronizing voice. "I was planning on cleaning up the city a bit for you. Most of the L.A. drug lords in one place." Moretti clucked his tongue in disapproval. "Not good for security. My sources-" He paused and chuckled, noticing Sabrina and Jill turn to other quizzically. "Forgive me. Young Christian and Fred Daniels told me they would all be here so I came prepared."

Sabrina and Jill looked floored. They had been fed lies this entire time. They felt like they had been kicked in the stomach. He had been the ultimate puppetmaster, unseen and unsuspected, making them and Peralta both do and think exactly what he wanted them to. Nothing was as it seemed. Moretti noticed the looks on their faces.

"Yes, I know. What a tangled web I weave." He sighed loudly in exaggerated annoyance. "But it seems you ladies have fouled up my plans yet again. And for that you must be punished."

"Punished how?" Sabrina asked, narrowing her eyes.

Moretti smiled and slid both suitcases towards the two girls with his foot. They scrambled out of the way, not wanting to jar the dangerous contents.

"I haven't decided. But either way, we're taking a trip, ladies."

He jerked open the car door and let Kelly tumble out. Jill grabbed Sabrina's arm to keep her from rushing forward. Kelly hit the ground and lay motionless, half of her body still inside the car. The impact from crashing down the wall had reopened the gash on her head and blood was trickling freely down her face. Sabrina swallowed hard and forced herself to wait for Moretti's instructions, keeping her eyes on her friend.

"Wake her up." Moretti ordered.

Sabrina and Jill looked at each other anxiously and stepped forward.

"One!" Moretti shouted suddenly. The girls froze in mid-step, terrified of his reaction.

"One of you." he clarified calmly. The girls shared another look and Jill stepped forward, her hands held out in a gesture of surrender.

With Moretti looking down at her, she knelt by Kelly's side and gently pulled her legs out of the car so that her entire body lay on the floor.

"Hurry up." Moretti snapped.

Jill glared at him and turned back to her unconscious friend.

"Kell? C'mon, wake up." she whispered, leaning in close and wiping at the blood on her face. Kelly remained unresponsive. Jill glanced up nervously at Moretti and shook Kelly's shoulders gently. "Open your eyes, Kell." she pleaded.

Moretti sighed and looked at his watch.

"I don't want any dead weight, stand aside." he said in a bored tone, aiming his gun at Kelly. Jill's face twisted in horror.

"No!" she shouted desperately. She threw her body over Kelly's in an attempt to block the bullet.

Moretti laughed, clearly amused by the girl's willingness to die for each other. "You have thirty seconds, Ms. Munroe." he said pleasantly.

Jill let the air out of her lungs in a shaky breath and quickly rose to her knees and shook Kelly more forcefully. Sabrina paced anxiously a few yards away, her hands to her temples, moaning in desperation but unable to look away. This had to be some kind of horrible nightmare.

Jill gently cupped Kelly's face in both hands. "Please, Kelly." she moaned. She slapped her cheeks lightly.

"This is taking too long. Ten seconds." Moretti interrupted with a smile. This was by far the most amusing form of torture he had ever devised. He began loudly counting backwards from ten.

"Ten. Nine. Eight."

Jill panicked and grabbed her friend by the front of her shirt, shaking her roughly. "Kell, please!" she pleaded desperately.

"Seven. Six."

"Oh God, wake up, Kell!" Jill yelled. She slapped her hard, extreme pressure causing her to act irrationally.

"Five. Four."

"Kelly!" Jill screamed shrilly in her face.

As Moretti reached two, Kelly's eyes fluttered open and her features immediately twisted into a grimace of pain.

Jill let the breath she had been holding whoosh out of her lungs in relief. Without thinking, she dropped Kelly back to the floor.

"There! She's awake, don't shoot her!" she yelled up at Moretti. The frightened tears that had been welling up in her eyes now rolled down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away with a trembling hand.

Kelly glanced around her surroundings in dazed confusion. What had happened? Why was Moretti here? She met Sabrina's eye. Her friend looked jumpy and anxious. Sabrina put a finger to her lips and silently motioned for her to stay still. Though she had been unconscious for the past several minutes, she immediately picked up on the tension in the room. They were in trouble.

"Oh, good." Moretti sneered, clearly disappointed. "Rise and shine, Ms. Garrett. Get up." he ordered, giving her a light kick on her leg.

With Jill's help, Kelly painfully rose to her feet. Jill pulled Kelly's arm over her shoulder to help her stand.

"Go join your friend." Moretti ordered, waving his gun at Sabrina. Jill helped Kelly limp over to Sabrina, supporting most of her weight on her shoulder. Sabrina stepped forward and wrapped her arm around Kelly's waist to ease Jill's discomfort.

Moretti cocked his head. "Isn't that nice." he cooed. Sabrina and Jill glared darkly at him.

He grinned at them as he fished into his pocket. A moment later he pulled out a lighter. He flicked on the flame and waved it in front of the girls, giving them a chance to realize what he was going to do. When their expressions registered understanding, he knelt down and held the little flame to the broken wood of the smashed crates.

The fire would spread to the suitcases and the entire building would explode within minutes.

"This way, ladies" Moretti said cheerfully. He led them out of the warehouse and into a dimly lit alley about fifty yards away. A sleek black car was waiting, nearly invisible in the shadows. Sabrina recognized it and sucked in a breath. The man had been controlling them the entire time, and she still couldn't believe it.

Moretti kept his gun trained on them as he opened the back door.

"Get in." he ordered. The girls hesitated a moment and then slowly made their way towards the car, Kelly slowing them down considerably. Moretti frowned as a thought came to him. "Stop." he said, holding up a hand. The girls obeyed.

Moretti keyed open his trunk and took out a length of rope. He uncoiled it and dug in his pocket. A moment later he produced a small pocket knife, which he used to cut the rope into three sections.

Sabrina sighed in defeat. She had been hoping he would leave them unrestrained in the backseat.

Moretti stode over to where the girl's were standing and took Jill by the arm. She went without protest, leaving Sabrina to lower Kelly to the ground. He dragged her several feet from her friends and roughly twisted her arms behind her back.

He turned to Sabrina and Kelly. "If you so much as move, I'll kill her." he threatened, waving his gun in Jill's face. Sabrina gritted her teeth in helpless frustration. She was too far away to make a move without him hurting Jill and Kelly wouldn't be able to help her. She looked away and clenched her fists in anger.

Jill winced as he lashed her wrists tightly behind her. Done with her, he shoved her towards the car and motioned for her to get inside. She obeyed, sitting down but keeping the door open.

Jill watched him from inside the car as he grabbed Sabrina and yanked her out from under Kelly, letting Kelly collapse to the ground. Moretti eyed the injured young woman with a cruel smile on his face as she tried to raise herself off of the ground. She could barely walk and was cradling her left knee. She was hardly a threat and wouldn't require restraining, he thought to himself as he sneered down at her.

But just in case...

He quickly decided that her left knee was the source of her pain. Holding Sabrina firmly, he suddenly lunged forward and stomped down hard on Kelly's injured knee, grinding his heel down into the bone. Kelly screamed in agony and folded to the ground, moaning and writhing in pain.

Sabrina thrashed against him, cursing loudly in outrage but Moretti overpowered her.

"I'll do it again if you don't stop." he whispered in her ear. Sabrina immediately stopped her struggle, her shoulders heaving in fury.

He smiled as he watched Kelly twist and thrash pitifully on the ground. She wasn't going anywhere now. He could save time on tying her hands.

Moretti gave Sabrina the same treatment he had given Jill, flipping her around and tying her wrists tightly together. As Moretti tied Sabrina's hands, Jill retained her composure and her keen eye watched for an opportunity to escape. Kelly was lying directly behind Moretti, clutching her knee in agony. Suddenly, she rose up on one elbow, her face pale and contorted in pain and her breaths short and ragged. She glared at Moretti, a dangerous glint in her eyes, an expression Jill had never seen before.

Kelly had lost her temper and was about to do something stupid.

Jill sucked in a breath. She had been about to stop Kelly, when opportunity had suddenly presented itself. Her eyes darted around frantically, searching for the correct angle. There was still a chance for them, but she had to act before Kelly did.

Moretti's gun was in his hand as he tied Sabrina's wrists together, but his finger wasn't on the trigger.

That was all Jill needed.

She waited until Kelly had moved to where she needed her to be and then sprang from her seat, her shoulder lowered.

She struck Moretti hard, the momentum of her weight knocking him sideways. He buckled into Sabrina with a cry of surprise, sending both of them against the grimy brick wall of the building in front of them. He took a quick step backwards to regain his balance and the back of his knees hit Kelly just as Jill hoped he would. He topped backwards over her, taking Sabrina and Kelly both to the floor with him in a tangled pile. Moretti quickly got to his feet. He cursed and shoved Sabrina out of his way as he flipped his gun into position and aimed it at Kelly's head. In his rage he was going to kill the closest person to him.

Jill leaped into action once more, again lowering her shoulder and charging at full speed. She slammed into him hard, knocking the gun out of his hand before he could pull the trigger. They both went sprawling to the floor in a heap, Moretti grunting in pain as his body took the brunt of their fall.

Moretti bellowed in rage and furiously wrestled Jill off of him. He scrambled to his feet and delivered a vicious slap to her face. Unable to defend herself with her hands behind her, Jill shut her eyes tight and braced herself as the blow knocked her sideways. Moretti rushed forward again and aimed a kick at Jill's side. She gasped in pain and rolled several times with the force of his kick. Not satisfied yet, he grabbed the front of her shirt and jerked her off the floor. Her head snapped backwards as his fist connected solidly with her jaw. With his only focus on beating the life out of Jill, Moretti hadn't noticed that Sabrina had gotten herself free and was now in possession of his gun.

She fired a shot in the air. Moretti froze, his fist poised in mid-punch. Jill cautiously opened her eyes and sighed in relief.

"You touch her again and I'll splatter the wall with your brains." Sabrina shouted angrily.

Moretti laughed his disbelief at the sudden role reversal the previous minute had dealt him. He released Jill and stood erect, raising his hands above his head.

"Jill!" Kelly whispered. She motioned for Jill to come to her and Jill obeyed, shuffling towards her on her knees, still dazed from Moretti's assault. Kelly quickly untied her friends hands. As soon as she was free, Jill whirled around and threw her arms around her, elated that they were in control again. They could hear police sirens in the distance. It was all over now.

Sabrina kept the gun trained on Moretti as Kelly untied Jill's hands.

"Turn around." she ordered. Moretti obeyed, still laughing his psychotic laughter that made Sabrina so uncomfortable.

"Get on your knees." she said coldly. She was angry and wanted him to feel the same fear that her and her two friends had felt.

But, Moretti was too far gone to feel fear. His laughter grew louder and more uncontrolled. Sabrina looked at him uneasily. Was he losing his mind?

"Put your hands behind your back." she said. She turned to Kelly and gestured for her to throw her the rope.

As she crouched down to tie his hands, Moretti surprised her with a swift elbow to her stomach. She gasped in pain and doubled over, lowering her weapon in the process.

Moretti took advantage of the split second opportunity and leaped to his feet. While Sabrina fumbled with the gun, he sprinted down the alley, apparently headed back to the burning warehouse, his laughter echoing through the dark alley.

Sabrina cursed loudly and gave chase, hollering incoherently at Moretti in her anger. When it became obvious he wasn't going to stop, she leveled the gun and fired. She missed, the bullet lodging itself into the wall of a distant warehouse. She cursed and skidded to a halt, wanting to be completely sure of her accuracy. With Moretti in her sights, she squeezed the trigger again.

The empty click of the chamber seemed to resonate in her ears as loudly as if the gun had been fired. She had wasted her last bullet. Infuriated, she flung the useless weapon to the side with a cry of rage and resumed her chase with renewed vigor.

Jill yanked Kelly to her feet and the two trailed behind, trying to keep them in sight.

The two girls watched in horror as Moretti headed back to the burning warehouse. He knew he was finished. The police were on their way, and he had arrogantly confessed the entirety of his crimes to them. He was going to the warehouse to let the explosion kill him, saving him from paying for his crimes. He was committing suicide, they realized.

And Sabrina was right behind him.

"Jill, stop her!" Kelly choked out.

Jill recovered from her shock at Kelly's shout and dashed down the sidewalk after her friend.

"Sabrina! Stop! No!" she yelled shrilly as she willed her legs to move faster. She was faster than Sabrina was, but her friend had a good ten second head start.

"Sabrina!" Jill hollered. She was wasting her voice, Sabrina wasn't going to stop. Jill lowered her head and pumped her arms harder, forcing her body to move even faster. She was gaining on Sabrina, but it would be at least half a minute before she caught up. And by then they would already be inside the doomed building.

Moretti continued onward, with Sabrina in close pursuit and slowly shortening the distance between them. The building was going to explode and she didn't want him inside when it did. She was not about to let him take the easy way out. He would stand trial and pay for what he had done.

Moretti bounded up the long rickety staircase to the catwalk that would lead to the open door, Sabrina trailing close behind him.

"You coward!" she screamed at him in fury. Moretti, with his longer legs, managed the staircase better than she did and gained several feet on her. She watched him disappear inside the building. With a grim look of determination on her face she vaulted up the last few remaining stairs and decidedly moved toward the open door after him.

Kelly watched anxiously from a distance as her two friends disappeared from her view. She tried to follow, but the pain forced her to stop and lean against the rail fence that bordered the property. She strained her eyes to see if she could spot any movement that would indicate her friends were alright. Clenching her teeth against the pain in her knee, she pulled herself along the railing with her good arm.

She threw her hands over her ears instinctively as a deafening explosion blasted through the night sky, lighting up the shipyard like a temporary sun. Kelly fell to the floor, shielding her head as pieces of debris rained down on her from the blast. Once it had calmed, she looked up in dread. The roaring blaze could be seen for miles she was sure, and a thick cloud of dust was slowly settling itself within a mile radius of the explosion. Kelly lay frozen for several moments, staring in horror at the shadowy expanse of beach and scorched warehouses that were being illuminated by the fire.

Sabrina and Jill.

Fighting a wave of hysteria, Kelly pulled herself up and began limping towards the fire as quickly as she could. She had yelled for Jill to go after Sabrina. Jill's death would be completely on her. She quickly pushed that thought away.

They had to have gotten out, she told herself over and over. She refused to let herself believe that they hadn't. It was unfathomable.

She screamed in frustration as her injured leg gave out again, spilling her to the floor.

Cursing loudly, she jerked herself up using the fence and continued her slow and painful journey. The gnawing dread wouldn't go away until she knew for sure the fate of her two best friends.

She mentally prepared herself for whatever it was she would find.


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

"Stop, Bri!" Jill yelled again as she arrived at the foot of the staircase. Sabrina was already nearing the top and ignored her.

Jill tripped her way up the staircase, taking the steps three at a time.

Sabrina was so close.

Jill swung her hand forward, but grabbed nothing but air. She cursed and lunged forward wildly, her arms stretched out in front of her. Her hand latched onto Sabrina's pant leg right, and her chin was immediately jerked into the top step by the momentum of Sabrina's stride, snapping her teeth shut.

Sabrina pitched forward and caught herself on her elbows, thrashing her leg in an attempt to free herself.

Jill had an iron grip on her pant leg and wasn't about to release her.

"Let him go!" Jill cried desperately, scrambling to her feet. Still clutching her friend's pant leg, she climbed over the top two steps and grabbed the back of Sabrina's shirt, pulling her away.

Sabrina tried to squirm out of her grip.

"Jill! He's going to get away! Let me go!" she shouted at her.

The two girls wrestled for a brief moment before Sabrina managed to kick Jill away. She shot her friend an apologetic look and turned towards the open door. Jill, acting quickly, scrambled to her feet and in a last ditch effort, hurled herself towards her friend in a flying tackle.

She slammed into her unsuspecting friend, catching her off guard and knocking her into the low railing that bordered the staircase. With Jill's momentum propelling them forward, the two girls flipped over the railing and plummeted the fifteen feet to the ground, landing safely in the soft sand inches from each other.

Dazed but unhurt, Sabrina lifted her head to her friend lying by her side, her expression that of outrage. Angry and irrational as her mind was, she opened her mouth to tear into Jill.

Her harsh words were interrupted by the world being torn apart from under them. The explosion rocked the ground they were laying on, sending a powerfully hot gust of sandy wind stinging their cheeks, as bits of wood and shrapnel blasted over their heads. Her anger at Jill forgotten, Sabrina quickly crawled to her and threw herself over Jill's head and shoulders, instinctively protecting her best friend.

The girls screamed in terror as flames burst sideways from the building fifteen feet above their heads. The intense heat from the blast singed their clothes and hair and sucked the oxygen out of their lungs as they flattened themselves into the hot sand, their bodies being pelted with the forcefully expelled debris. Just as the scorching heat became unbearable, it suddenly dissipated and the girl's found themselves able to breathe again. They lay panting for a few moments, eyes shut tightly as they listened to the soft thuds of remaining debris falling to the ground around them.

When the night became calm again, Sabrina lifted her head. Ash and flaming bits of wood and cloth were settling across the beach, littering the clean white sand. They had only survived because they had been directly below the explosion, she realized.

Because Jill had knocked them off of the railing.

Had they been still standing by the door, they certainly would have been blown to pieces. Sabrina suddenly felt nauseous. She slowly pulled away from Jill to let her up.

Both girls sat up slowly in numb shock, breathing heavily, in complete awe at their luck. Their ears were ringing from the deafening boom of the explosion.

Sabrina looked at Jill, shame and remorse clearly written on her face. She tried to apologize, but the words died in her throat and she looked away, unable to speak.

Fortunately, Jill didn't need words to understand what her friend was working up the strength to say. She broke out into a wide, forgiving, smile and drew Sabrina into a tight hug.

"Let's get back to Kelly. She's probably having a heart attack." Jill whispered, as they pulled apart.

Sabrina nodded and gazed back up at the shell of the burning building. "Do you think he could have sur-"

"No." Jill interrupted her, knowing what she was thinking. There was no way Moretti could have lived and the thought didn't bother her. His trial and imprisonment was not worth the life of her best friend's.

Sabrina nodded in solemn resignation and the two girls rose shakily to their feet. They walked across the beach, swinging wide of the smoldering building. The sirens they had heard earlier were much louder now, as police cars arrived on the scene. The wail of the fire truck was still off in the distance. Policemen were scattered around the area, yelling and motioning excitedly to each other as they tried to figure out what had happened.

Sabrina and Jill avoided them, wanting only to find Kelly. They quickly spotted her as they backtracked their steps.

She was still frantically pulling herself along the wooden railing. As they came into her view, she bowed her head to lean against railing and let herself slip to one knee in relief. The two girls jogged up to her and bent down to help her up.

Kelly stared at them, immense relief washing over her, weakening her limbs and burning her eyes with unformed tears. She wanted to hit Sabrina for putting herself and Jill into such a dangerous situation, but at the same time, wanted to throw her arms around both of her friends and cry. She felt torn between joy and anger, the mixture of the two powerful emotions battling for dominance. They were all she had, and for a torturous few minutes she had thought them lost. She found her voice.

"You scared me." Kelly said simply.

Jill laughed. "That's all you have to say to us?"

Kelly shook her head.

"That's all I'm going to let myself say."

She leaned into both of her friends. "Don't you ever do that again." she whispered.

"I'm sorry Kell, I don't know what got into me." Sabrina admitted. She looked at Jill and bit her lip. "Jill, I could have gotten you killed, can you please fo-"

Jill cut her off.

"Stop. We're all ok." she said. "That's what matters."

Sabrina nodded her head, unable to look her friends in the eye.

"Yeah." she said softly.

Jill leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Sabrina gave her a faint smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. She felt horrible, the sick guilt twisting up her insides and making her sick. The realization of what her foolhardy actions could have cost hit her hard, the shame almost too much to bear.

Sensing her guilt, Jill tried to refocus their energy. Sabrina needed something else to think about.

"Kell, we need to get you to a hospital. C'mon, the cops are over there." she said, carefully pulling Kelly's arm over her shoulder again.

Kelly made a face, but didn't protest as her friends helped her to the nearest police cruiser. The policeman looked at them in surprise and radioed for an ambulance. He led the girls to a secluded area, away from the chaos and noise to wait.

The three girls sat against the cool brick wall and huddled together, mentally, physically, and emotionally drained by the past few hours. There would be a great deal of explaining to do on their part.

But that could wait.

For now, the girls were more than content to sit quietly together and look out into the ocean as the calmingly repetitive waves lapped gently on the sandy beach.

* * *

A few minutes later a dark blue Ford Thunderbird arrived on the scene. Bosley had been trying to contact Sabrina and Jill for hours. He had first attributed their lack of contact to them wrapping up the case. When the girls hadn't called back after a few hours, he had become nearly beside himself with worry. Finally, unable to stand it any longer, he decided to find them.

Bosley stepped out of the car and looked around in shock, taking in the smoldering building and the hordes of police cars and firetrucks.

What had they done?

He looked around, slightly uneased by their absence. A policeman rushed by and Bosley followed him, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"What happened here?" he asked urgently.

The policeman turned to face him.

"An electrical explosion, looks like." the officer said quickly, clearly annoyed by the interruption.

Bosley's face contorted in horror.

"An explosion? When? Was anybody hurt?" he gushed.

The officer shrugged. "Doesn't look like it. Nobody owned it." He turned and walked away leaving Bosley behind.

Where were they?, he thought to himself, feeling dread churn his stomach. He scanned the area again, desperately hoping to see them.

His eyes focused on a large mass against the wall of one of the surrounding buildings. He squinted to better make it out then headed towards it.

As he got closer, he realized that it wasn't one large person as he initially thought, but three smaller people, huddling together against the wall. He sighed in relief.

There they were.

Bosley smiled and headed towards them. He stopped short in shock when he was close enough to fully take in their appearance. The girls looked like they had been dragged through hell. They were bruised, bloodied, dirty and looked ready to fall over from exhaustion. They waved to him as he approached.

Bosley knelt in front of the angels and looked between their three faces.

"Are you three alright?" he asked in concern.

Sabrina started to nod her head. In mid-nod, she changed her mind and shook it instead.

"No, Boz. We're not." she said quietly.

Bosley took a closer look at Kelly in the moonlight and felt horror rise up from the pit of his stomach. She was badly injured and was leaning against Sabrina with her eyes half closed.

"Oh my God, I'm going to call an ambulance." Bosley said, his face tight and worried.

"They already did, Boz, I'm fine." Kelly slurred, reaching out an arm to calm him. Sabrina and Jill snickered at the ridiculousness of her statement.

"I am." she insisted. "All I need to do is lie down somewhere soft for about three weeks."

Bosley smiled and reached out to smooth back her sweaty hair.

"I'm sure there's plenty of hospital beds that fit that description." he said gently. Kelly gave him a weak smile and closed her eyes, letting her head rest on Sabrina's shoulder. Though not usually one for displaying affection, right now she needed contact with her friends as a reminder that they were alive and well. She sat between them, leaning against Sabrina and absently clutching Jill's sleeve. They understood her unspoken fear and huddled close to her.

"What happened?" Bosley asked the other girls.

Jill sighed. "Oh Boz, it's a long, long, story. You'll have to wait until my book comes out."

Sabrina laughed. The four of them turned their heads as an ambulance came into view and turned in their direction, bathing them in the dancing red light of the sirens.

"Your chariot awaits." Jill whispered to Kelly, giving her a gentle pat on the head.

Bosley raised his hands to wave the ambulance down and then turned back to the girls.

"You two sure you're alright?" he asked Sabrina and Jill. Their faces were scratched and bruised as if they had been on the losing end of a fistfight. He was anxious to hear their story later.

"Yeah, Boz." Jill said, nodding slowly.

Bosley looked at all three girls in turn and sighed again in relief.

"I'm glad you girls made it." he said, glancing to the side as the paramedics parked and got out of their van.

"We are too, Boz." Kelly murmured. She moved her grip to Jill's hand and again rested her head on Sabrina's shoulder. Sabrina protectively pulled her and Jill closer.

Bosley smiled.

"Incidentally, you three look like hell." he added with a grin.

"Why, thank you!" Jill said pleasantly.

Bosley smiled at her and stood aside as two paramedics arrived and began to talk to the girls. He watched as they tended to the girl's injuries with practiced care, wrapping them in blankets and bandaging their wounds. The two men carefully lifted Kelly, who had since passed out, onto a gurney and wheeled her into the ambulance. Jill and Sabrina followed quietly, letting the two men help them inside with Kelly.

Seeing that the ambulance was ready to leave, Bosley stepped forward and called to one of the paramedics.

"Where are you taking them?"

The paramedic stopped and looked at Bosley as if he had just noticed him.

"Are you with them?" the man asked.

"Yes."

"Sinai. You can follow us there if you like. We just need to check out Jill and Sabrina before we release them. The other girl, the brunette, will have to stay over night."

"Kelly." Bosley informed him.

The man nodded his head. "Yes, Kelly. She likely has a concussion, might have some broken bones, we'll have to run a few tests on her." He stopped and cocked his head at Bosley. "Are you her father?"

"Yeah, I am." Bosley answered without hesitation.

The paramedic nodded. "Just follow us. Is there someone you can notify for the other two?" he asked.

Bosley smiled. "I'm family, I'll take care of them."

The paramedic gave him a strange look, but decided not to ask. He nodded his head and turned to jog back to the ambulance. Once inside, the vehicle blasted its sirens and rolled out into the street towards the hospital. Bosley followed in his own car.

The girls looked shell shocked and were not in the frame of mind to explain everything that happened. He'd have to call Charlie and let them fill in the blanks later.

This long night was going to get even longer.


	23. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

The elevator doors slid open and Bosley scooted past an old woman in a walker as he made his way onto the second floor. He looked sheepishly behind him to see that the old woman was still glaring daggers at the back of his head, as she had been since he stepped on her foot boarding the elevator. He gave her a polite wave. The old woman quickly responded as the elevator doors slid shut.

Bosley looked puzzled. He had never seen that hand gesture before.

He shrugged and headed down the hallway to where the doctor told him Kelly was staying for the night. Sabrina and Jill had disappeared an hour ago after they had been treated for superficial injuries and released and he had a feeling they were already in her room.

Bosley sighed. He had seen that the girls were being taken care of and then had spent the better part of the last few hours talking to the police and Charlie about what had happened last night. It was nearing five in the morning and Charlie had demanded that he take Jill and Sabrina home to rest. They certainly needed it.

He had been with them as they sat in a daze, their clothes smeared with soot, ash and sand, and briefly recounted what they could to police about the fire. It had almost been comical. He had wondered why they were talking inappropriately loud at the shipyards. When they brought up the explosion, he had finally understood. The poor girls' hearing had been temporarily damaged. It would return in a few days, the doctors explained later, but during their interview, he had to constantly remind them to lower their voices.

And that was just the fire. There was much more to the story, but seeing the girls' exhaustion and inability to concentrate, he had made police leave them be for the night. They had gathered the information that was needed immediately and the rest could wait until the girls had slept.

He arrived at Kelly's room and lightly pushed the door open. Looking around, he shook his head and tried not to laugh. It appeared the girls didn't need to be at home to rest.

Kelly lay sleeping in the hospital bed, her head bandaged and her right arm in a sling. Her broken wrist was encased in a splint, holding it still to heal correctly. She looked pale and weak, but it was a far cry from what she had looked like when Bosley had seen her a few short hours ago. He had been terrified.

Sabrina was slumped in a chair next to Kelly's bed, fast asleep, with her elbow propped up on the mattress, her head resting against her hand. Jill leaned against her, apparently defying gravity as she rested between hers and Sabrina's chair, also sleeping peacefully. There was an open book of crossword puzzles on the floor between them.

Bosley smiled at them fondly, content to watch them sleep for a little while. They must be exhausted. Finally, he walked over and gently shook Jill's shoulder. She mumbled in her sleep and brushed his hand away.

Bosley sighed and tried again.

"It takes more than that to get her up." he heard Sabrina whisper suddenly, remembering to keep the level of her voice down for Kelly's sake.

He looked up at her and smiled.

"Hey there, how are you feeling?" he asked, running his hand comfortingly over her hair.

Sabrina yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Tired." she answered. She shook Jill's shoulder much more roughly than Bosley had.

"Get up, Jill."

"What?" Jill whined, sitting up in her chair. She opened her eyes and grinned happily when she saw Bosley.

"Boz! Where've ya been?" she said, much too loudly.

Sabrina pressed her fingertips lightly against Jill's mouth. "Shhh." she whispered, pointing to Kelly.

"Oh, sorry." Jill whispered back. She was still loud, but at least it was an improvement. "Where've ya been?" she repeated.

Bosley groaned. "Everywhere, mostly on the phone. With Charlie." he finished.

Sabrina and Jill nodded slowly and sat up.

Bosley pulled up a chair in front of them. "Are you girls alright?" he asked them.

"Yeah, Boz. We're fine." Jill answered sleepily.

Bosley studied them. They looked like they had been beaten up and he was anxious to know all that had happened inside the warehouse. He wouldn't push it now, though.

"And Kelly?" he asked, tilting his head toward her.

"She'll be fine." Jill said, reaching over and gently squeezing Kelly's hand. "They gave her some pain medicine. Made her real loopy. She'll probably be out until late tomorrow morning."

Bosley nodded. "That'll do her a lot of good. She's been sleeping this whole time?"

"Mostly. She woke up awhile ago, we got her to eat some jello, and then she went back to sleep."

Sabrina grinned at her. "And then you finished the jello."

Jill gave her an indignant look. "She said I could!" she replied defensively.

Sabrina and Bosley chuckled softly at Jill's wounded look.

"She was flying pretty high. I think she just nodded her head so you would stop talking. That's what I do." Sabrina teased.

Jill grinned and shoved her playfully. It was good to see her more like herself again. She hadn't said much since they had arrived.

"Well, it still counts. She also said I could have her cute male nurse." Jill purred.

Sabrina groaned. "Do you ever just take a break, Jill?"

"Hey, people have been using me for a piñata all week. I need something to boost my confidence."

Sabrina and Bosley laughed.

Finally, Bosley cleared his throat. "Why don't I take you two home so you can get some sleep."

Sabrina and Jill shook their heads.

"We're fine here." Sabrina replied. "I don't want to leave Kelly by herself."

Jill nodded her head in agreement, her eyes on her sleeping friend. Bosley sighed, knowing full well that he would not win this argument.

"Can I bring you a change of clothes or anything, then?" he offered.

"I'm ok, Boz. Won't do any good without a shower anyway." Jill said with a grin. She turned as Kelly suddenly stirred in her sleep. She had been given quite a bit of pain medication and they had expected her to sleep through the entire night. Bosley and the girls watched her closely as her eyes fluttered open and she looked around the room in confusion before remembering where she was.

"Hey, kiddo, how ya feeling?" Sabrina said softly, gently brushing back the hair from Kelly's forehead.

Kelly flinched and then relaxed at Sabrina's touch.

"Sore." she muttered weakly, her voice barely audible.

Sabrina stroked her hair. "Yeah, I bet. Go back to sleep, Kell." she soothed. "You'll feel better tomorrow."

Kelly nodded and closed her eyes. "Are you guys ok?" she asked quietly.

Jill got up and plopped herself on Kelly's bed.

"We're fine. Just waiting for you to get better." she said brightly, patting Kelly's leg.

"Then go home and go to sleep." Kelly murmured, a faint smile on her face.

"That's what I tried to tell them." Bosley cut in.

Kelly opened her eyes and smiled. "Bosley!" she whispered happily.

He walked over to other side of Kelly's bed. "I was wondering when I'd see those pretty green eyes again." he said with a grin. He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "How are you, honey?"

Kelly smiled and blushed. "Aw, Boz." she said shyly. "When did you get here?"

"Just a little while ago. I talked to Charlie earlier." he said. "He sends his congratulations to the three of you."

Sabrina made a face. " For what? We were almost killed. The drugs were destroyed. Peralta and Moretti are dead. They can't stand trial and all of those other drug lords got away." she said bitterly. Her entire demeanor darkened and she slumped back in her chair.

Bosley raised his eyebrows.

"Don't be so sure. Those two were killed, yes, but the police were able to pick up a Tom Kessler. Apparently, he was Peralta's second in command and he's singing like a canary right now to the police. They also picked up a Fred Daniels, Dean Vega, and six crates of cocaine. Police have a lot of evidence and a lot of names. The whole twisted story is coming out in the open now. You girls just made the streets a whole lot safer." he said proudly.

Sabrina and Jill shared a look and then looked back at Bosley.

"Thanks, Boz." Jill said modestly.

Kelly furrowed her brows, trying hard to make sense of what Bosley had just said. "What?" she asked, too groggy to follow and hopelessly lost.

Sabrina chuckled and patted her hand. "We did good, Kell. Get some rest now."

Kelly looked around the room again, her vision blurry and unfocused. She wanted to know what was going on, but her head felt like it was filled with lead and it was impossible to keep her eyes open. The medication and her own exhaustion made it hard to stay awake. She tried anyway.

"Don't fight it, Kelly." Jill said, smiling softly at her friend. She placed her hand lightly over Kelly's eyes.

Kelly sighed and closed her eyes, much too tired to protest. "Explain it to me later, then." she slurred drowsily, much needed sleep beginning to overtake her once more.

Jill laughed. Her heavily medicated friend was defying logic by even being awake right now. "Sweet dreams, Kell." she said gently, smoothing her hair back.

Kelly gave them a soft smile as she drifted off.

"Jack and Jill." she mumbled suddenly, and then giggled.

"What?" Bosley asked, an amused looked on his face.

"Nothing. It's the drugs talking." Jill explained quickly. "They make her delusional." She looked back at Kelly, who was fast asleep once more, a peaceful expression on her face. She smiled at her and gave her an affectionate pat on the head.

They watched Kelly sleep for a few minutes, enjoying the peace and quiet after a chaotic night.

"This is probably not what she had in mind when she said she wanted to sleep for a week." Jill commented offhandedly as she ran her fingers lightly through her friend's hair.

Bosley chuckled. "No, I think not. But the doctor said she could go tomorrow evening at the earliest."

Sabrina and Jill nodded, "Yeah, he told us the same thing." Sabrina sighed.

Bosley watched as the girls settled themselves down at Kelly's bedside, Sabrina resuming her previous spot and Jill laying her head down on the opposite side of the bed. It was obvious they had no intentions of leaving.

He smiled at them. He'd take all three of them home tomorrow evening it seemed.

* * *

Two weeks later, the girls gathered at Townsend Investigations to debrief their case.

"Why couldn't I have messed up my left hand." Kelly wondered out loud as she messily signed a few forms with her non-dominant hand. Her right arm was still in it's sling, much too sore for use, and her right wrist was held immobile in a cast. She looked much better, the bruises and cuts on her face beginning to fade and heal. Her bruised ribs had greatly improved, making moving around much easier. She wore a brace on her fractured knee and had just abandoned her crutches, deciding that they were too difficult to manage with one arm. She preferred hopping on one leg, much to Jill and Sabrina's amusement. Plenty of rest had also sped up her recovery considerably as had her friend's constant care.

Whether it was wanted or not.

Sabrina leaned over to examine Kelly's signatures.

"Looks normal to me." she teased.

Kelly threw her pen at her.

Sabrina laughed as it narrowly missed her. "You're aim is getting better, I see."

Kelly grabbed another pen from Bosley's desk and sent it flying in Sabrina's direction. This time it bounced off of her shoulder.

"It just takes a little practice."she said with a smirk.

Jill looked up from her doodling and shook her head in amusement at her two friends. The bruising on her face had significantly cleared up and her broken nose had healed. She got up from her seat and crossed over to sit next to Kelly. Pulling a pen from her pocket, she slid Kelly's papers over to her and began scrawling her friend's signature in a decent imitation of her handwriting. Kelly put her hand in her lap and watched in fascination.

"Remind me to never let you have my checkbook." she mused thoughtfully.

Jill looked up and laughed. "Are you going to stop me if I try to take it, Lefty?"she teased. She finished signing the rest of Kelly's forms and slid them back to her.

"Thanks, Jill." Kelly said gratefully. She looked over at Sabrina. "You're more helpful than some people." she added loudly enough to get her friend's attention.

Sabrina grinned. "Hey, I've been babysitting you for the past two weeks."

Kelly laughed. "I know, and I appreciate it." She tilted her head. "And all of the flattering comments that come with it." Throughout her recovery, she had stayed at either Sabrina or Jill's houses. Though her friends took good care of her, her incapacity had come with the price of merciless teasing. She had acquired several new nicknames.

The girls turned as Bosley walked into the room, his arms loaded with boxes of Chinese takeout. All three girls immediately rose from their seats to help him. At amused looks from Sabrina and Jill, Kelly sank back down to her seat, realizing that she wouldn't be of much help at all. Sabrina, Jill, and Bosley passed out the food amongst the four of them. Bosley reached into his pocket and handed them all a set of chopsticks. Kelly took hers hesitantly, looking around for a fork. She could barely manage chopsticks with her right hand much less her left. When she didn't find one, she decided not to say anything and go on with lunch as normal. Sabrina and Jill watched her in amusement as they ate.

Kelly made a face as she manipulated the chopsticks with her left hand. When she spilled yet another clump of rice on the floor, she looked up in exasperation.

"Can someone give me a fork before I starve?" she asked. Sabrina and Jill bit back their laughter.

"There aren't any forks, Kelly." Sabrina said. She snickered and looked away.

Seeing that her friends would be no help, Kelly turned to Bosley. "Is there a fork in there, Boz?"she asked hopefully.

He chewed his food and swallowed, looking around the room to avoid answering her question. He looked helplessly at Sabrina and Jill who were shaking in silent laughter. Kelly turned and gave them a strange look. What was so funny?

Bosley threw his hands up. "Oh, I can't do this to her. Give her the spoon, Jill." he said finally, in defeat.

Sabrina and Jill wailed their disapproval to Bosley for ruining their practical joke.

"Fine! You really are no fun, Bosely." Jill sighed as she gave Kelly a spoon. Kelly snatched it from her.

"Just think. These are my friends." she said to herself as she dug into her lunch with one unsteady hand, the box teetering side to side. Jill gave her a sideways hug and plucked the spoon from her hand.

"We do it because we love you." she said with a grin. She reached out and scooped up Kelly's box of take out, spooned up some rice and held it to Kelly's mouth. Kelly glared at her for a moment and then burst into laughter and took the bite that Jill had offered.

"You do know that the minute I'm able to run, I'm going to get you back, don't you? My revenge will be terrible." Kelly said pleasantly around the rice in her mouth.

Sabrina laughed. "We're counting on it. It's almost no fun when you can't fight back."

Jill held out another bite to Kelly. Right as Kelly was about to close her mouth around it, she yanked the spoon away.

"Almost." Jill laughed, her eyes twinkling merrily. Kelly groaned and grabbed the box away from her.

As they were finishing up their lunch, the phone rang. Bosley rose from his seat to answer it.

"That'll be Charlie." he said. "Right on time as usual."

He answered the phone and clicked on the squawk box.

"Good afternoon, angels." Charlie's cultured voice came from the squawk box.

"Hi, Charlie!" the girls chorused.

"It's been awhile, angels. Had a lot of loose ends to tie up. Sorry for waiting so long to call you together." Charlie apologized.

Kelly smiled. "No worries, Charlie. We were busy anyway."

Charlie chuckled. "Good to hear." His tone took on a serious note. "And how are you doing, Kelly?"

Kelly gave a one armed shrug. "Mending, Charlie." she said lightly.

"How is she doing, Sabrina, Jill?" Charlie asked, knowing that Kelly would reveal as little of her discomfort as possible.

Sabrina laughed at the look on Kelly's face. "She has to wear the cast and the knee brace for about six weeks, but they should heal up just fine as long as she takes it easy. She can start using her shoulder when she can move it comfortably." she explained.

"Mending." Kelly reiterated as if Sabrina had echoed her.

"Good to hear. Take it slow, angel." Charlie said solemnly.

"Don't worry, Charlie. We're taking good care of her." Jill said with a grin.

"I know you are." Charlie answered. "And how is your nose, Jill?"

Jill touched her face, just now becoming accustomed to not feeling swelling around her nose. "It's much better, Charlie. No permanent damage."

"Good, Jill. I'll bet the men never even stopped looking. And you, Sabrina?"

Sabrina was still laughing at Charlie's joke. She straightened and cleared her throat before answering.

"I'm doing alright, Charlie. Bruises are nearly gone."

Kelly laughed. "Now you don't have to wear turtlenecks in May to hide your throat anymore."

Sabrina tugged the neck of her shirt thoughtfully. "I don't know. I kinda like it." she said, eyeing her turtleneck fondly. "I think it suits me."

Charlie laughed. "Whatever makes you happy, angel." He cleared his throat. "I've talked to the L.A.P.D. and they send their heartfelt thanks for all of your efforts. Tom Kessler and Fred Daniels are now in jail awaiting trial. With the information they provided, L.A.P.D. was able to apprehend fifteen previously unknown drug suppliers as well as uncover many of those Peralta had under his influence. Operations are under way to extradite a group of Americans that were helping Peralta smuggle drugs into the states. Two additional police officers came forward after Michaels and confessed once they started to crack down on the department. Several of Peralta's staff also confessed to having a part of his dealings. You three just took down an empire."

Sabrina, Jill and Kelly shared pleased looks.

"It's a shame that Peralta and Moretti got the easy way out." Bosley added solemnly. If he couldn't personally rearrange their faces, he would have liked to see them suffer a bit in jail for their actions.

"Yes it is, Bosley. But at least their influence has been crushed. Good work, angels."

"Thank you, Charlie." the girls said in unison.

"Oh, and I spoke to someone who you might be familiar with." Charlie said.

"Oh?" Sabrina questioned, sitting up in intrigue. "And who might that be?"

"Anthony Moretti." Charlie answered pleasantly.

Bosley and the three girls paled at the mention of his name.

Charlie chuckled. "The real Anthony Moretti."

Kelly scoffed. "Are you sure?"

"Quite." Charlie answered. "He and the family of Theo Contandino send their thanks for bringing down Peralta's empire. Moretti is very regretful that his brother couldn't be brought in alive, but he understands what had to be done. He's been living in hiding ever since his attack waiting for the right moment to return."

"Must be rough to lose both of your brothers in the same month, no matter how deranged." Sabrina said sadly. She thought of her two brothers in Philadelphia and shuddered.

"Yes." Charlie said gravely. "Moretti tells me that he gave up organized crime and has since started a new life in San Fransisco. You might be interested to know what he does now."

Kelly raised her eyebrows. "No, not particularly." She was ready to write off any member of the Moretti family.

Charlie laughed. "Don't be so sure. He opened up a chain of boutique stores."

The girls shared an impressed look.

"He told me to let you know that he has some things picked out for you that he's sure you will enjoy. Oh-" Charlie added as if just remembering something. "He also sells homemade gelato."

Sabrina and Jill's eyes widened in delight. Kelly looked confused.

"What's that?" she asked.

Jill turned to her excitedly. "It's Italian ice cream, Kell."

Kelly's eyes widened in delight.

"Right you are, Jill. He says that that the next time you're in the area, to come by. Your first shopping trip will be completely free of charge."

The girls were silent for a moment.

Jill gave Kelly a thoughtful look. "You know, it's been a while since we've visited Kris-" she started.

"She's probably getting pretty lonely." Kelly agreed.

"All that studying. She's going to want a break." Sabrina said, turning to Bosley mischievously.

Bosley gave them a pained look.

"And you have a week long vacation, angels. My treat. Enjoy San Francisco." Charlie laughed.

"What makes you think we're going to San Francisco, Charlie?" Kelly asked innocently.

"Oh, just a hunch." Charlie said slowly. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I have a very important meeting to attend."

Sabrina grinned. "Yeah. And who are you meeting, Charlie?" she asked teasingly.

"Oh, just a business associate. Very boring."

"Tell her we said Hi." Kelly said. She gave Sabrina a playful shove. "And remember, don't try to feed her. Girls don't like that."

Charlie laughed. "I'll keep that in mind, angel."

"And if you ever want to meet with us, you know where you can find us." Jill said in an inviting voice.

Charlie chuckled. "Oh, Jill. Dare to dream."

"I'll never stop." Jill joked.

"Goodbye, angels, Bosley."

"Goodbye, Charlie." the girls chorused.

Charlie hung up the phone and the girls sat back in their seats feeling pleased with themselves. Their sacrifice had not gone unnoticed.

Sabrina stood up and began clearing away the remains of their lunch.

"Alright, you have a doctor's appointment in thirty minutes, young lady. You don't want to be late." she said to Kelly.

Kelly sighed gloomily. "No, I don't want to be late." she echoed sadly.

Sabrina giggled at her disheartened face. Kelly hated going to the doctor.

"But hey, tomorrow we can go have some fun, isn't that right, Boz?"

Bosley sighed. "Apparently you can. I didn't hear him say anything about me."

Jill came up from behind and leaned against him. "Me neither. But, we'll bring you back something good. What's your favorite flavor of ice cream."

Bosley narrowed his eyes at her. "I'd rather you didn't bring me gelato soup."

Jill giggled in her bubby manner. "Well, fine. But, we'll be sure to bring you back something."

She looked over at Kelly and Sabrina. "We have all week." she added happily.

The girls grinned.

And what a week it would be.

* * *

**It's snowing outside! (Relevant? No. Am I excited and wanting to tell everyone? Yes.)**

**So that's it! I thought I'd finish uploading the story before I got super busy and forgot. Thank you so much for reading and for all of the nice reviews that you left me. This was my first attempt at an actual episode so your reviews were very encouraging. Thanks again!**

**- kp1185**


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